[ad_1]
It cannot be said enough; if you wish to understand what is happening and why, you should always have a map or better yet a globe handy.
So many of the intellectual shortcomings in the national security area derive simply from a misunderstanding of geography and the role it plays in the history, needs, and the motivations of nations and peoples.
As we think of the challenge in the western Pacific west of Wake, seeing it from our perspective or the traditional perspective of the maps we are used to seeing may not be optimal to facilitating a better understanding.
In most people’s minds, this is how they think of the Pacific Ocean.
If we want to understand the challenge of defending our interests contra the People’s Republic of China across the vast expanses of that ocean – or even more challenging – the view of that ocean from the Chinese perspective, we need to think and look a different way.
If you like maps, I highly recommend the website Finished Maps. The good folks there have a superb series of maps that every maritime and general national security professional should take some time to absorb. I’ll just pick the two I find the most informative. These are low-res, hi-res are available at the link.
First, know your neighborhood. Know why every island is important.
For a nation is such need for maritime trade – you can understand their desire not just for a strong navy, but to get some defense in depth.
Next, how they view our airfields. There is defense in depth, and aggression in depth, depending on your point of view.
Maps are essential. Being able to move the axis around to new perspectives … gold.
[ad_2]
Source link