The U.S. and Japan's recent meeting highlighted their concern over China's potential military action in the Asia Pacific region, leading to the U.S. helping Japan bolster its military and change its pacifist stance since World War II.
In this episode, the hosts discuss the ongoing tensions in the South China Sea and the role of the United States Navy in the region.
The speaker discusses the negotiations between the US and the UK, comparing it to the Lend-Lease talks and how delaying negotiations weaken negotiating power. They have agreed to partner up in the future, leading to a drop in overall power of other countries, except for China.
The Navy argues that retiring the littoral combat ships, which are considered obsolete and have major flaws, will allow for the money to be spent on more relevant forms of defense against China. However, a majority of Congress wants these ships to stay, leading to the amendments for the ships in the Pentagon's budgetary package.
With the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, US-Russia relations could become even more strained with President Biden likely to take a tougher stance on Russia's interference with America's democracy. However, it is unclear if any foreign powers would actively intervene in another country's internal affairs, as seen in the lack of aid for Muslims in China and Navalny in Germany.