Preparing for a Long War

For students of military affairs, the past is an imperfect guide. The best one can do is to try to understand how events played out in their moment and which of their aspects reoccur today. One of the most pressing, and worrying, questions on the table is whether our moment most resembles 1939 or 1979. In the first, a major war had engulfed one end of Eurasia, and the other end stood on the precipice of mass death, misery, and terror. In the second, the free world was on the defensive, at risk of being overwhelmed by the forces of tyranny, until a series of seemingly miraculous events and the rise of dogged and inspiring leaders across the West turned the tide before the worst transpired.

The global situation is once again veering toward catastrophe. Europe suffers from its largest war since World War II, the Middle East is in the midst of a long and bloody conflict, and Red China is relentlessly arming for war. The free world’s leaders responded ineptly to the challenges of the 1930s, and millions paid with their lives. Forty years later, they woke up just in time. Those in power today should do everything they can to prepare for, and thereby stave off, the worst.

About the Author

Mike Watson

Mike Watson was the deputy director of the Center for Strategy and American Statecraft at the Hudson Institute.

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For students of military affairs, the past is an imperfect guide. The best one can do is to try to understand how events played out in their moment and which of their aspects reoccur today. One of the most pressing, and worrying, questions on the table is whether our moment most resembles 1939 or 1979. In the first, a major war had engulfed one end of Eurasia, and the other end stood on the precipice of mass death, misery, and terror. In the second, the free world was on the defensive, at risk of being overwhelmed by the forces of tyranny, until a series of seemingly miraculous events and the rise of dogged and inspiring leaders across the West turned the tide before the worst transpired.

The global situation is once again veering toward catastrophe. Europe suffers from its largest war since World War II, the Middle East is in the midst of a long and bloody conflict, and Red China is relentlessly arming for war. The free world’s leaders responded ineptly to the challenges of the 1930s, and millions paid with their lives. Forty years later, they woke up just in time. Those in power today should do everything they can to prepare for, and thereby stave off, the worst.