Going back to the playbook of the Cold War, may be the only way to deal with Russia and China; U.S. Global Respect through a very capable and strong Armed Forces.

President Trump's New Defense Strategy Is a Return to the Cold War

President Donald Trump is bracing the Pentagon for a long-term, strategic competition with with Russia and China for the foreseeable future.

From article, (President Donald Trump is bracing the Pentagon for a long-term, strategic competition with the world’s major powers that puts the U.S. military on a Cold War footing with Russia and China for the foreseeable future, the administration said on Friday.

The National Defense Strategy, set to be rolled out by Defense Secretary James Mattis at John Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, directs the U.S. government to engage in a multi-year build-up of the military involving more troops, more weapons and stronger foreign alliances.

The document, which serves as the Administration’s roadmap for global security, says China and Russia aim to upend the global hierarchy that the United States has sat atop of since World War II. The strategy serves as the latest sign the Administration wants to pivot from the morass of violence and counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East to intensify great power competitions in the western and eastern hemispheres.

“Great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security,” Mattis told the audience. “This strategy is fit for our time.”

It harkens back to the Cold War-era where the U.S. and Soviet Union projected power and military might around the globe. Two versions of the strategy were drawn up: one secret, one public. The version released to the public was 11 pages long and documented a range of military needs for the coming years, involving everything from nuclear weapons to cyber capabilities to war-fighting strategies. The message was a familiar one to the Trump Administration: the military needs additional funding.

“Our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare: land, air, sea, space and cyber space,” Mattis said.

A muscular military posture along with strong alliances ensured “what was a Cold War never became a Hot War on the plains of Europe,” he said. “The point is: How do we create a military that is that compelling?”)

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Me, "Going back to the playbook of the Cold War, may be the only way to deal with Russia and China; U.S. Global Respect through a very capable and strong Armed Forces. The U.S. armed forces have been decimated by cut backs, defense programs with numerous cost overruns, and a set of administrations, since the end of the first cold war, with the Soviet Union, not knowing what to do with the armed forces, in a temporarily, safer, world. 

Well, now we see with the start of the Second cold war with countries like Russia and China that we need to reinvest in the armed forces and show the world we are not to be played with.

Right now, Russia is building up its armed forces. It is showing it can strike anywhere with military drills and war games. Even challenging us in Syria. 

Make no mistake, Russia is playing a P.R. Game. Where they say the U.S. is the one who wants war, and we sit around trying to show the high ground and do nothing. In the meantime, Russia is building up its armed forces. We can't just sit around thinking that everything is going to be just fine. We are past the Soviet Union, and now are being challenged by a limited democracy; the presidential election is rigged, and Putin stays in office. 

China is also building up its armed forces, with cooperation from Russia. The Chinese are trying to take over the world economically, while building bases on reclaimed land in the South China Sea. You think they are just going to use these bases for peace?

 Our armed forces have been marginalized and other powers are trying to unseat our place as the government that has the strength that can negotiate all kinds of deals. While I believe a stronger armed forces is necessary. I also believe they need better oversight so as not to get stuck developing all kinds of lemon defensive systems like aircrafts that suffocate pilots, or are vastly inferior by the time they are deployed; this wastes valuable money. We all don't want war. But if other countries think they can play with us and we will just role over and play dead? Well, that is not a good position to be in."