What Are Our Priorities?

I disagree with so much in thie piece by Andrew Michta at The American Interest I hardly know where to begin. He opens by laying out some priorities:

Focus on Eurasia, invest in allies, rethink globalization. The West needs to focus on these fundamentals to achieve its overarching strategic objective: preventing China’s domination of Eurasia.

He expands on that:

Today preventing China’s domination of Eurasia should be our overarching strategic objective, and to achieve this we need to focus on three fundamentals: 1) Prioritize Eurasia and stop draining our military resources in secondary theaters; 2) invest in allies who see their interests directly aligned with ours and are willing to assume the attendant risk; and 3) decouple U.S. strategic industries from China’s and redefine the rules of international trade to ensure equitable competition.

What don’t I agree with in that? I think that “the West” is propaganda that once served a purpose but no longer does. I’m not sure we actually have any allies. Clients, yes. Allies, no. The problem is not that we’re not in investing in them but that they’re not investing in themselves. I agree completely with that third “fundamental”. That we have not been doing that all along is a scandal and an outrage.

Here’s something else about which I’m skeptical:

U.S.-German relations, which are vital to NATO’s continued success, are likely to present a challenge, for Washington and Berlin have thus far proved unable to insulate the German-American strategic conversation on shared security and defense priorities from domestic political constraints. Still, Washington should continue to make every effort to work closely with Berlin; as a key member of the NATO alliance and the main entry point for U.S. forces into Europe, Germany remains a vital American ally.

Who fomented the Balkan War? Who supplied the materials for Iraq’s, North Korea’s, and Iran’s chemical warfare arsenals? And Iran’s nuclear development program? Who built China’s factories? Who is cozying up to Russia for oil and natural gas? Who is destabilizing Europe by inviting hundreds of thousands of Middle Eastern migrants? Whose economic policies are making it hard for smaller, undercapitalized European countries to survive economically? The answer to all of those questions is Germany. These are not the actions of an ally.

But I agree with this:

Sovereign economic strength, including a vibrant manufacturing base, is as important to great power status today as it has been for centuries. Just ask the denizens of Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, or Berlin. It is also the essential prerequisite of military strength. We cannot have it both ways, pretending that the deindustrialization of the United States does not really matter while at the same time noting with growing concern the continued rise of the People’s Republic of China, today the world’s premier supplier of high-value manufactured goods. Should war come, it will not be enough to write software, for to run even the most basic app one needs also to be able to assemble a silicon chip.

My priorities would be different:

• Cultivate stronger, healthier relationships with our neighbors in the Western hemisphere. Our relationships with Mexico and the countries of Central America are not healthy. They are pathological.
• Reindustrialize the United States. We can’t afford not to.
• Let Europe take care of itself. If France and Germany want to become Chinese satrapies, let them.
• We need to have a much better Africa game than we presently do. China is doing much better job than we there and that’s where the real challenge is not in Europe.

Revitalizing our own society and politics wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.