America's involvement in East Asia is a relic of WWII and the Cold War. If we are very lucky, there will be a cold war between China and Japan. I can imagine that Japan will feel compelled to create a sphere of influence involving the island countries of East Asia.

Originally Posted by The Grey Badger

I look in the mirror and say "Well, I care what this one thinks."

I didn't mean to imply that you are stuffy.

Yes. A lot of interesting ideas. Time constraints limits my ability to respond now. But I do plan to comment later.
In the meantime I found an article that should give our libertarian readers pause about der Rander. It sound like he wants to run as a surface libertarian in while carrying on the culture wars for another cycle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...y.html?hpid=z2

Originally Posted by Washington Post

Earlier this spring, Sen. Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley, invited a crew from the Christian Broadcasting Network into their Kentucky home for what turned into two full days of reality TV. In a half-hour special, “At Home With Rand Paul,” the couple are seen bird-watching in the woods, going to McDonald’s and, especially, talking about religion — their belief in traditional marriage and the senator’s call for a “spiritual cleansing” in America....


....For the past few months, though, Paul has aggressively courted evangelicals, not only with the CBN special but also with a trip to Israel, numerous events with pastors and a handful of appearances in Iowa this weekend.

Paul’s play for evangelical support is part of a broader effort by the rookie senator to court the Republican establishment — much of which views him with suspicion — and become a mainstream political player in a way his father never was. The younger Paul, for instance, does not call himself a libertarian, but rather a “libertarian Republican.”

As he openly considers a run for president in 2016, Paul’s rebranding effort is a test of his political skills as well as the state of the Republican Party. For the senator, the question is whether he can win over the establishment without upsetting his tea party base. For the GOP, Paul again raises the question of whether anyone can gain the trust of both sides.

The first step for Paul is to make clear who he is and who he is not. For instance, he embraces support for Israel and does not, as Ron Paul did during a memorable moment in a 2011 debate, deliver impassioned defenses for letting people use heroin if they want.

At a lunch Friday with about a dozen evangelical pastors in a Cedar Rapids hotel, the younger Paul assured the group that he disagrees with libertarians who support legalizing drugs. When one pastor inquired about ideological ties between Paul and his father, the senator asked that he be judged as his own man.

Let's see now. Pro drug war, pro neocon, and he's actively running a standard culture war campaign.
That's one hell of a libertarian you guys seem to be supporting.

Libertarian interventionalism--remember you read it here first.

The son is not the father. Doubt he'll be able to pull it off in 2016. Hope he doesn't, in fact.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

The son is not the father. Doubt he'll be able to pull it off in 2016. Hope he doesn't, in fact.

<hisss> Noooo, Rand <hisss>, *I* am your father <hisss>

- Dick Cheney.

Originally Posted by bad dog

<hisss> noooo, rand <hisss>, *i* am your father <hisss>

- dick cheney.

"no!! It can't be true! That's impossible!!"

An interesting article on something I think will be highly relevant by the 2020s.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

An interesting article on something I think will be highly relevant by the 2020s.

But aren't all these drones in effect pilotless planes? And now they are talking about coming up with driverless cars.

Originally Posted by Brian Beecher

But aren't all these drones in effect pilotless planes? And now they are talking about coming up with driverless cars.

They're effectively true robots. We've tried for decades to make driverless cars and the technology hasn't been there.

Having a drone that can fly on it's own with no human controller is a huge deal.

To be honest, at this point I think we're not looking at skynet, but at one guy being able to manage multiple drones at once. Swarm warfare.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

To be honest, at this point I think we're not looking at skynet, but at one guy being able to manage multiple drones at once. Swarm warfare.

Yeah, that's more or less how I see it. Being able to autonomously pilot is not the same skillset as establishing a battleplan. What is cool about this is timing, especially as we come to a point where drones will be integrated to everyday civilian life. Just as it's easier to have a guitarist than a string trio, so too can we use the precision of one person to do multiple things in unison.

Originally Posted by Kepi

Yeah, that's more or less how I see it. Being able to autonomously pilot is not the same skillset as establishing a battleplan. What is cool about this is timing, especially as we come to a point where drones will be integrated to everyday civilian life. Just as it's easier to have a guitarist than a string trio, so too can we use the precision of one person to do multiple things in unison.

Less flight simulator, more RTS.

We seem to be using the word "drone" somewhat indiscriminately. Most UAVs are remotely piloted devices-that is, remote controlled by a human pilot. An exception has been reconnaissance-an auto pilot follows a flight plan, and the cameras are turned on at a particular point. That dates back to Vietnam. I have seen a similar mission proposed for harbor patrol, using an autonomous device resembling a torpedo-it would look for mines (a potential terrorist weapon), following a programmed course. In the air or underwater, devices need not negotiate the complexities of land, unlike a robotic car.

Another interesting trend. A taste of things to come?

There is a thread about cyber warfare. A concept is to attack infrastructure by electronic means...which leads to the scenario of an "electronic Pearl Harbor." (And there may be an attempt to hide the identity of the hackers). Perhaps we will end up reverting to old means of controlling our infrastructure. And older methods of record keeping, to thwart ​electronic infiltration.

With greater use of remote controlled machines, we must expect attempts to jam the links between machines and human pilots.

And for our next step we bring you Good Germans singing about Robots.
Just because.

Chinese military conducting industrial espionage on American defense contractors in order to acquire advanced drone technology.

I don't see foreign policy as the be-all-and-end-all from this point on - and the way both the debates over the NSA and Syria have gone would strongly tend to bear me out here: A bizarre coalition of the far left and the far right has, in effect (with an occasional vital-center "national liberal" even joining in, at least with regards Syria!), jammed the gears of the foreign-policy treadmill.

Originally Posted by '58 Flat

I don't see foreign policy as the be-all-and-end-all from this point on - and the way both the debates over the NSA and Syria have gone would strongly tend to bear me out here: A bizarre coalition of the far left and the far right has, in effect (with an occasional vital-center "national liberal" even joining in, at least with regards Syria!), jammed the gears of the foreign-policy treadmill.

God, I hope so. It's been the most positive thing I've seen all turning.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

God, I hope so. It's been the most positive thing I've seen all turning.

We're tired. That's good for now, but it won't last. The juices will flow again, and some future youth of the nation will, once again, be called-on to be cannon fodder. The best you can do is not be one of the callers.

Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon

We're tired. That's good for now, but it won't last. The juices will flow again, and some future youth of the nation will, once again, be called-on to be cannon fodder. The best you can do is not be one of the callers.

I don't think that any side has enough credibility with the would be fodder to make them march. I think the only way we've going to see the US involved in a big war this 4T is if someone invades us. Even then, I doubt it will inspire a WWII level response.

A war, but not fought as a full blown Crisis war?

Originally Posted by TimWalker

A war, but not fought as a full blown Crisis war?

I doubt anyone would really want to wage retribution it they didn't have to, especially because that would depend on relying on leadership that nobody trusts. This just isn't a wartime 4T. It's a clearing house 4T.

A house cleaning 4T?