The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 1112 Undercurrent
The year 2002 will go down in history as the International Year of Counter-Terrorism. The struggle between international terrorism and counter-terrorism has deepened step by step, affecting the development and evolution of all aspects of the international situation. Against the backdrop of the struggle between terrorism and counter-terrorism, the world is in chaos, but there is stability in the chaos and changes in the chaos.

In 2002, the international fight against terrorism was led by the United States, coordinated by major powers, and participated by most countries. International anti-terrorism cooperation has gradually deepened, and cooperation at all levels, including global cooperation, regional cooperation, multilateral cooperation, and bilateral cooperation, has developed to varying degrees. A strong anti-terrorism atmosphere has been formed internationally. Terrorism can be said to have become an international rat, despised by mainstream countries.

All countries are increasing their investment in public security to maintain social stability, and are forming special anti-terrorism teams to specifically deal with terrorist incidents.

That is China. Border patrols have been strengthened, customs inspections have been strengthened, and security checks have been strengthened at subway stations, train stations, airports, and bus stations. The police have strengthened social security, including the household registration system, and cracked down on illegal immigration. The people have also generally participated, and they immediately call the police when they see any special circumstances.

Strengthened public security has made it very difficult for thugs to move around in China. Guns are not easy to obtain, and materials for making explosives are also difficult to obtain.

It was smashed several times.

China has strengthened its cooperation with ASEAN, intensified cooperation in politics, economy, military, culture and science and technology, and jointly sought development.

According to this year's ASEAN 10+1 meeting, both sides will strive to realize the ASEAN+China Free Trade Area in 2010.

Throughout 2002, more than 3900 terrorist incidents occurred in European and American countries, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of casualties, making European and American countries suffer greatly in this regard.

There have been constant calls from people in Europe and the United States for a ban on guns, but instead all these countries have tacitly relaxed their gun control policies. Countries that originally had gun bans have also abolished the laws and allowed gun ownership.

Even in Europe and the United States, many scholars have called for coexistence with shootings!

The investment in social security is really too huge, so much that the national strength of many European and American countries simply cannot afford it.

Coupled with the sharp rise in oil prices, European and American countries have basically suffered greatly. Inflation has risen and economic development in Europe and the United States has weakened. The United States has been relying on issuing a large amount of US dollars and US bonds and spending a lot of money to stimulate the economy.

Inflation has been rising sharply in European countries, and coupled with the weak economy, the people are quite dissatisfied. In addition, measures such as delaying retirement and cutting social welfare have caused dissatisfaction among people in various countries.

In addition, while military counter-terrorism is the main means, hegemony is involved. From a certain perspective, the United States is using military counter-terrorism to promote its own hegemony.

In 2001, the United States declared war on Afghanistan on the grounds that Afghanistan supported al-Qaeda and was suspected of being involved in the September 9 tragedy in the United States.

But by 2002, almost no one believed that the US's purpose was so simple, and considerations of promoting US hegemony must have been involved.

This year, many people criticized military counter-terrorism for only treating the symptoms and not the root cause, and that the pursuit of hegemony is not desirable.

Even though the United States supported the Afghan interim government, it was unable to fight the guerrillas, and the joint forces led by the United States still had to fight the guerrillas.

Everyone has seen that the United States has its own agenda in the fight against terrorism, such as seeking to expand its geopolitical influence, taking the opportunity to increase its control over Middle East and Caspian Sea oil and its transportation channels, and giving equal importance to anti-proliferation and anti-terrorism. In short, everyone has seen that the signs that the United States' ambition to dominate has surpassed its anti-terrorism efforts are very obvious, complicating the anti-terrorism situation.

The U.S. war in Afghanistan no longer enjoys the widespread support it did when it first began in 2001.

Now even in the United States, Britain and other countries, there are voices against the war. In 2002, the US-led coalition forces lost more than 6 soldiers in Afghanistan and injured more than . The Afghan interim government lost more than soldiers and more than were injured.

The news that the Australian military massacred civilians in Afghanistan caused an uproar in the world's public opinion, and all parties criticized the Australian military's actions.

Although the European and American media defined and reported the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian War as the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" or the "Israeli-Palestinian War", this is actually the sixth Middle East War. Media outside Europe and the United States reported it as the "Sixth Middle East War".

Both sides suffered heavy losses and were defeated. If the United States had not shown a tough attitude, Israel would probably have ceased to exist.

But Israel's image as the 'little bully of the Middle East' has been completely destroyed and no longer exists.

You should know that in this sixth Middle East war, there are only four Arab countries, namely Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq did not send troops into the battlefield.

The Afghan coalition forces are also responsible for maintaining order.

The Palestinian-Israeli issue has not yet been resolved, and the two sides have not even signed a ceasefire agreement. It can be said that the war may break out again at any time.

This has caused international peace-loving people to worry, after all, the world is not peaceful now.

The African continent is still in the midst of war. After the French forces were driven out, various forces are fighting for territory. It is unknown when peace will return to the African continent.

In the Middle East, looking at the US statements and troop deployments, everyone knows that the US is going to use military forces in the Middle East.

The United States combines geopolitical interests, energy competition and anti-terrorism, and combines short-term anti-terrorism with long-term hegemony. In particular, it has massively expanded its military this year and deployed troops around Iraq in preparation for an attack on Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by force, which has raised questions about the justice of the war on terror.

So far, people from all over the world have criticized the Americans for this approach, believing that the Americans' global military deployment will only increase tensions and will be of no benefit to counter-terrorism.

Under coercion from the United States, Japan had to send a large number of Self-Defense Forces to the Afghan battlefield. In 2002 alone, as many as 3500 Japanese Self-Defense Forces were killed in Afghanistan and more than were injured. After more than half a century, the Japanese once again experienced the terrifying power of guerrilla warfare.

And now, Japan has to send a large number of Self-Defense Forces to join the joint forces formed by the United States to participate in the Iraq War.

However, Japan has gained little. Apart from the United States relaxing restrictions on Japan in some areas, Japan's competitiveness in industry has declined significantly, just like the lost decade in the 60s, 70s and 80s, which changed a generation of Japanese people.

Many Japanese companies have gone bankrupt in the past decade. Japan is now dominated by chaebols and there is no innovation at all.

High oil prices have made Japan's economy even more sluggish. If it weren't for the lucrative returns from Japan's overseas investments, Japan would be in an even worse situation now.

As its strength has declined significantly, Japan's external ambitions have greatly reduced and its international influence has declined significantly.

(End of this chapter)