As we head into 2022, Americans should pay close to some extraordinary dangers worldwide. Tension is mounting on multiple fronts.
For starters, Russia is building up its troops at the Ukraine border, yet it denies it has any plans to attack. At the same time, Russia has submitted a list of security requests to the U.S. and NATO including that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and rule out weapons deployment there. The U.S. and Russia are set to meet next month to discuss the security demands.
Meanwhile, we also know Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are talking regularly. We’ve seen the images of the two men speaking over Zoom. Just last month, the two countries signed a roadmap outlining closer military cooperation through 2025. Since then, troops from both countries have been working and training together on the ground, at sea, and in the air. At one point, their joint patrol mission over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea prompted South Korea to scramble fighter jets.
Along with the risk that Russia could take action on Ukraine, there’s also the possibility that China could invade Taiwan. Simultaneous developments on those two fronts would stretch U.S. resources to the breaking point.
The list of worries grows. The Iranians continue working to add nuclear weapons, and Korea has not in any way backed off on its own nuclear weapons. The threat of terrorism is also not going away. We just learned that the French pre-empted an attack where offenders related to ISIS intended to use knives to kill people during the Christmas season.
These are the most dire national security issues the United State has faced since the end of the Cold War, and the Biden administration is totally incapable of dealing with these kind of challenges.
It’s a sobering time.
