The current tension in the Gulf between Iran and Saudi Arabia is just one part of a much wider geopolitical game.
This is an investment into logistics in the event sea lanes are closed by an antagonistic US Navy.
I’m not sure the use of the word antagonistic here is right. You talk about China expanding their access to Asia by creating a modern-day Silk Road using sea lanes and logistics to do so.
If the creation of a modern-day Silk Road is against US interests then why would precluding it from happening be antagonistic?
As a sovereign country China has the right to expand and the US has the right to curtail that expansion.
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Since the international state system is characterized by anarchy it’s impossible for one state to be an antagonist and another state to be a protagonist.
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All countries are allowed to operate in international waters. China, keeps building land mass in international waters in order to expand their borders, then they cry foul when someone gets too close. Those borders and land masses are not internationally recognized as territory of China.
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I guess @reactionaryedward bought in to the China supremacy argument. In my view, China needs a swift kick in the dick and the US needs to be the one to kick them in the dick. Obama let the Chinese get away with hacking the US government, currency manipulation, and territorial expansion. China is nothing but a paper tiger and should be treated as such. At the very least Trump is doing that and I don’t really give a shit if some Brit thinks that is antagonistic.
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“Never get involved in a land war in Asia”
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The Chinese middle class is dying.
- China is the number one energy importer. The oil situation will get worse soon.
- US manufacturing is already pulling out of China.
- China is already dipping into its QE toolbox by adjusting reserve requirements.
- China has let the yuan devalue, reducing the purchasing power of Chinese everywhere.
Soon, the Chinese will not even be able to import international luxury brands anymore.
Xi is done for.
Hence the so called 9 dash line that China arbitrarily created. Not to mention the environmental impact that the Spratley Islands has had which has managed to destroy pristine reefs in the area. Where are the green peace protestors for that issue? Crickets?