In his final Washington Post column for the year, David Ignatius puts his predictions in the form of a quiz, e.g.:
1) During 2020, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will: (a) take the additional title of prime minister and declare elections for a Saudi parliament; (b) offer China a larger role in the development of his futuristic city of Neom; (c) expand commercial and academic ties with Israel and announce an interfaith study center in Riyadh; (d) create a royal commission to ensure that the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi could never happen again.
His answer is all except d. Here’s a prediction that should give us all pause:
The “sleeper†military crisis of 2020 will be: (a) Russian deployment of hypersonic nuclear weapons for which the United States has no defense or counterpunch; (b) Chinese space weapons that can blind U.S. spy satellites, hack communications satellites and limit projection of military power; (c) new bioweapons being developed by China, Russia and other countries that can target specific populations — and create super-empowered warriors that are tougher, faster and smarter than others on the battlefield; (d) all of the above.
His answer there is d, all of the above. Cheery.
My understanding is that in 2 years we will have our own hypersonics. But I’m not sure anyone is better off incinerated in 20 minutes rather than 40 minutes…….
Why we play ball with the Chinese baffles me. They are not now, nor will they be our friends. They play a long game and view themselves as the rightful ultimate winners. Meanwhile we destroy our economic base so we can have cheaper toys, widgets and sneakers, and dick around in the ME. Great.
Good point.
Maybe it’s because the Chinese have been vigorishly buttering our politicians.