China report less useful each year

ARTICLE: Chinese media attack Pentagon report, By Mure Dickie, FT.com, May 27 2007

The report wasn't that bad, just stunningly limited in its war-within-the-context-of-war mindset, which is par for the course. Having the Pentagon be our primary interpreter of China's rising power is pathetically limited, like interpreting a football game by only watching the field judge recite his calls But such is our 19-th century view of "power."

The funny and sad thing about our ongoing interpretation of China's rise is how we portray them as somehow conquering globalization while remaining immune to its effects (just like Japan was supposed to years ago), and building up its military power to somehow add significant muscle to that emergent domination when it's so patently clear that China's pol-mil capacity regarding its already immense economic connectivity with the world is markedly limited (Chinese workers will get targeted and killed regularly inside the Gap in coming years, just like in eastern Ethiopia recently, and China will basically have no military capacity whatsoever to do anything in response--unless you think the "charm offensive" is gonna cover it).

But since both China and our own myopic Pentagon analysts want to act like Taiwan is the center of the strategic universe, we both remain slavishly devoted to this OBE scenario.

Actually, I was happy to see the report notice China's very mild attempts to build up its power projection (a capacity we we should welcome and co-opt as rapidly as possible) and its growing cyberwarfare capacity (naturally, there too China can somehow threaten and not be threatened itself because networks and the Internet are funny like that: only America is vulnerable).

In sum, this annual report just strikes me as less useful each year, capturing less and less of an immensely complex reality.

But we like our reductionism in the defense community. It makes us feel like we've got the world figured out when we haven't got a clue.