Linked below is the original article[1] from Politico. We'll see what the actual National Defense Strategy 2025 PDF says, but the article is consistent with remarks Hegseth[2] has made about China's military, particularly its hypersonics. Here's the piece. Pentagon plan

@balajis While true in many respects, the notion that Russia defeated NATO is completely absurd. NATO isn’t fighting Russia, we are just sending limited quantities of mostly outdated weapons to Ukraine, and tiny Ukraine was able to battle Russia to near standstill with that. There is no

@JetSetGent https://x.com/balajis/status/1...

@balajis What about China’s alleged demographic bomb? Who would dare send a family’s only child to war? Also they’ll be too old to fight…

@balajis while I appreciate the analysis on shifting geopolitics, retreating from global commitments risks eroding Western values like democracy, freedom, and human rights. we must preserve these by doubling down on support for Ukraine, through military aid, economic sanctions on

@balajis 🤡stick to tech. Your point 5 has no basis in history or cultural experience. China and India both were regional powers for centuries. Have you ever heard of them expanding their influence beyond their regions? Do not try to associate colonialism with other nations. You try to

@balajis well summarized although the 1991 Soviet comparison is a stretch the US is entering an economic renaissance whereas the Soviets were at the imminence of their total collapse Trump’s gamble will prove wise & 20 years from now America’s debt will be under control & its influence

@balajis India might be the only country capable of countering China in a decade or two. US trying to weaken India instead of strengthening it will eventually turn out to be a self-defeating strategy.

@balajis "Because China is far more MAGA than MAGA. It's a completely self-interested ethnostate that's armed to the teeth and that will bully any country that doesn't do as it sees fit." That statement is simply American projection, based on the Americna culture and history. It is NOT

@balajis Nah. The communist coup is occurring from within, as I think you are aware. You are simply engaging in deception. Once the country capitulates internally, it's much less costly to conquer it. It is better to tighten up the borders and prepare for external war in due course.

@balajis I appreciate your sober comments @balajis but not sure why you assume China will eventually be imperialistic like other empires before. While I don’t begrudge the prudence in preparing for the worst, it leaves the option to benefit from the best unattended. China values

@balajis 99% of what you wrote above you simply made up to fit your childish narrative.

@balajis I agree with this comment, except about China being more MAGA than MAGA, or that China will dominate the world. Please study its rise, which is much more peaceful than any great power. In any sense, China believes in multipolarity, not western (US) hegemony. The West had about

@balajis #3 is beyond absurd. putin’s only remaining card is nuclear blackmail, and he’s going to play it all the way down to bankruptcy or until the people under him depose him — probably both. NATO hasn’t lost, it hasn’t even entered the arena yet.

@balajis As history has shown, China only cares about itself and has continuously sought to capture other nations to expand its borders, betraying anyone in a heartbeat if it serves its purpose.

@balajis America + India could be the yin against the Yang of China. Realistically speaking - Unfortunately, Indians are not Caucasian's so that's not going to happen 😔

@balajis Analysis is good, but the conclusion is off/wrong! The end result is stalemate - multiple polarity - new Cold War with China for next 50 years! And NOT ceding power over to China by the collective West /US and China becoming belligerent to its neighbors or around the world.

@balajis > It's also because the Russian military has de facto defeated NATO in Ukraine lmao didn't see this banger coming

@balajis I certainly hope the Orient doesn't feel the need to spread gay-race communism with Chinese characteristics all over the Earth. That - at least - will be better than the current demonic Regime.

@balajis I think it's fair to say that Russia did not defeat Nato. Ukraine alone completely stalled the offensive of a vastly larger and more powerful Russian military. With just material and training assistance, they've decimated the Russian army. Can they win? Probably not alone.

@balajis I cannot tell you how much hatred I have for the leaders in the Western world of the last 40 years. The Blackrocks, the CEOs, the policymakers. They destroyed our country in 40 years.

@balajis You love the smell of weakness in the morning ..it smells like capitulation

@balajis This has been the reality for at least 20yrs. It’s nice to see our government finally realizing it.

@balajis This a reductive take and I think you paradoxically have it backwards. "Throwing in the towel" would be doubling down on the status quo rather than repositioning assets and restoring a vital manufacturing capabilities in preparation for an exponentially more complex conflict.

@balajis Russia has defeated NATO? You are fucking retarded.

@balajis Everything that begins must end. Rome fell. So did the Greeks, Hans, Gupta, Byzantines, Mongols, Ottomans, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, British. Empires rise, empires fall. The cycle is eternal, always in flux.

@balajis Ngl, It looks like we are inching towards World War III more and more every single day.. America has a lot of advantages including a maximally armed population which China does not have.. the Chinese people do not sit around shooting guns on Sundays. We are a warrior nation.

@balajis a couple of thoughts. 1) The Military Industrial Complex will fight the base closures because, without bases, fewer weapons systems are needed. 2) China called it the "Belt & Road" for a reason. Take the road, or we'll give you the belt.

@balajis They may have a superior military, but we have better printing presses. We can print more money than they can!

@balajis when US had Department of Defence, it waged WAR across the world to DEFEND the US; now, it has become Department of War, so it will wage WAR across the US to DEFEND the world

@balajis Following a similar ark as the transition of Britain from an empire to a nation. I hope that behind the rhetoric and shifts in global power the incentives are strong enough on both sides to avoid war.

@balajis So NAFTA and the hollowing of the middle class lead to the fall of the United States as the world’s super power? Gee who would have thunk it?

@balajis Where will India sit in all of this? Will it be able to maintain its autonomy with China on it's doorstep? Has the tariff nonsense pushed it way out of US orbit?