Midrats Episode 260: Best of Offshore Balancing the Indian Ocean
Dec 28, 2014
59:20
What is real, and what is a mirage? Can something be a cost effective strategic option, or a fool's errand?
As outlined by our guests U.S. Naval War College Associate Professors James R. Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara in their latest work in the periodical Asian Security: An Ocean Too Far: Offshore Balancing in the Indian Ocean; the United States is beset by war weariness after over a decade of war and a half century plus of global commitments.
It is seductive to think of retiring from continental Eurasia, but if history calls us back - returning in times of systemic conflict would be problematic – even in the relatively accessible rimlands of Western Europe and East Asia.
In a part of the world with the planet's largest democracy - offshore balancing is close to impossible in the Indian Ocean.
As it turns out, offshore balancing in the Indian Ocean may be no balancing at all.
As outlined by our guests U.S. Naval War College Associate Professors James R. Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara in their latest work in the periodical Asian Security: An Ocean Too Far: Offshore Balancing in the Indian Ocean; the United States is beset by war weariness after over a decade of war and a half century plus of global commitments.
It is seductive to think of retiring from continental Eurasia, but if history calls us back - returning in times of systemic conflict would be problematic – even in the relatively accessible rimlands of Western Europe and East Asia.
In a part of the world with the planet's largest democracy - offshore balancing is close to impossible in the Indian Ocean.
As it turns out, offshore balancing in the Indian Ocean may be no balancing at all.