The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 697 Ready to make a move
Across the Pacific.

An important meeting is also being held here in the United States.

Given the capabilities of the U.S. intelligence system, except for a very small number of countries in the world, it would be difficult for most countries to hide any major actions from the U.S. intelligence system.

Not to mention, the United States is also behind this, fanning the flames.

Since Operation Prairie Fire and Operation El Dorado Canyon, the United States has been licking its wounds for more than four years, nearly five years.

America's sword has long been hungry and thirsty.

In recent years, the U.S. military-industrial complex has performed somewhat poorly in international market competition. Facing competition from the Panshan Group, it has been completely defeated except for NATO countries and U.S. allies. Now, the weapons sold by the U.S. military-industrial complex every year are either to NATO allies or U.S. allies.

Apart from that, the achievements are minimal.

However, the largest customer of the US military-industrial complex is not overseas customers, but the United States itself.

The U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force are the largest customers of the military-industrial complex, and the second largest customer is the National Guard of each state.

"Iraq is constantly protesting against the expansion of our rights in the Gulf region, which has seriously affected our national interests. Once Iraq's negotiations with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are successful and the two sides reach an agreement, Iraq's oil reserves and oil production will increase greatly. Iraq also has a strong army. At that time, global oil prices will rise sharply, which will have an immeasurable and serious impact on the slow-growing US economy."

Senior White House economic advisers are reporting on the severe impact on the U.S. economy.

With the end of the Iran-Iraq War, just when everyone was optimistic that the international crude oil price would drop sharply, unexpectedly Iraq did something like that. It blew up the Persian ports of Abadan and Khomeini, and the oil fields and production facilities in the occupied areas. This made it impossible for Persia to become a major oil-producing country in a short period of time. Moreover, Persia’s reconstruction would require an investment of two to three hundred billion US dollars or even more.

Although the United States has lifted a series of sanctions on Persia, the two sides have not yet restored diplomatic relations. It is difficult for the United States to provide support, and it cannot take any big moves in Persia in a short period of time to avoid accusations and slander from competitors.

To be honest, high oil prices are making the United States feel uncomfortable.

Because it's about inflation!

Since the first oil crisis, the United States has been de-industrializing. In just over a decade, all of the low-end manufacturing industries in the United States have been transferred out. The mid-end manufacturing industry in the United States is facing the impact of the manufacturing industries in Japan and Europe and is also shifting. Only the high-end manufacturing industry can still have relatively good profits.

But this also makes the United States very uncomfortable, because the unemployment rate remains high and continues to hit new highs. Over the past decade, the U.S. GDP seems to be growing rapidly, but the income of Americans is actually stagnant or even regressing.

In the past, a blue-collar worker could easily support a family, live in a big house and drive a car.

But look at Detroit today, once the world's automobile kingdom, it has now declined to what extent.

According to think tank research, after the Iran-Iraq War ends, Iraq will quickly recover its strength, become stronger and stronger, and will continue to challenge U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Once the negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait are successful and Kuwait becomes Iraq's 19th province, Iraq will control more than 40% of the oil in the Gulf region. Iraq is fully capable of causing a sharp rise in global oil prices.

This will deal a severe blow to the already weak US economy.

"There is news that Saudi Arabia will also support cooperation between the two sides. Once Saudi Arabia joins, international oil prices will rise even more sharply, and may even remain at a high level of $50 per barrel for a long time, which is not in line with the development of our country's economy. According to experts' analysis, oil prices should be maintained at around $20 per barrel, or even lower, which is most conducive to our economic development."

The economic adviser continued his presentation, his words filled with worry.

He is very worried about the possible rise in oil prices. One of the main reasons for the difficulties the United States has encountered in economic development over the past decade is the rise in oil prices!

Over the past decade, the United States has paid at least one trillion dollars more due to rising oil prices!
Why is the United States 'deindustrializing'?
Isn’t it because of the rising oil prices, high labor costs in the United States, and the low- and mid-end manufacturing industries that are not profitable or even losing money, and no one wants to do business that loses money!

In addition, many people turn to finance and make money through finance, which is much easier than making money by running a factory.

"At present, the interest on the national debt we have to pay every year is very high, plus we have to repay the maturing national debt." The economic adviser said this with a worried look on his face.

So far, there has never been a default on U.S. debt. It is precisely because of this credibility that U.S. debt has been transformed into assets and subscribed by investors as a financial product.

Once the U.S. debt defaults, it will be a huge blow to the credibility of the United States. U.S. debt will change from a high-quality asset to a risky product, which will be a serious blow to the U.S. debt.

If all U.S. debts are overseas, then it would be cheating, but the key is that overseas U.S. debts only account for about one-third of the share, and the other two-thirds are within the United States.

If they let the U.S. debt default, they will all be finished. Angry domestic investors will tear them into countless pieces, and even their families will suffer.

Now that they have reached this position, they are thinking about how to benefit the family and how to prevent their family members from being implicated.

The United States belongs to Americans, not to them, so why would they do bad things?

The others frowned.

This term, they did not issue any more U.S. debt, and their lives are so hard and frustrating.

Look at the previous government. In two terms, they issued trillions of U.S. debts, and military spending has to increase every year. They lived a very comfortable life.

When it comes to their generation, they have to live a hard life and feel depressed.

And look at the previous government, they beat Greenstar, beat Libya, and now they have only beaten Panama, and they are still being laughed at,

Even now, I am still being laughed at.

As the elites of American society, they are not stupid people. If they were stupid, they would not have reached this position. They all know very well the importance of the Middle East to the United States.

The Middle East is now the world's energy center! There is abundant oil there, and oil is the 'blood of industry'!
Whoever controls the Middle East controls the world's energy, and whoever controls the Middle East can speak with confidence and loudness.

Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, through the efforts of the United States, the US dollar has become the international settlement currency for oil. The US dollar has found a new anchor, which has prevented the US dollar from depreciating significantly and becoming waste paper.

So everyone present knew that the United States could not lose the Middle East.

Since the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in Persia, the United States has lost its most important ally in the Middle East. Persia was once the most important handle for the United States in the Middle East. At that time, the United States had Persia in its left hand and Saudi Arabia in its right hand, with Israel as a thorn. In addition, the US military bases in the Middle East gave it a strong influence in the Middle East.

However, since the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in Persia, the influence of the United States in the Middle East has continued to decline.

The decline of this influence is very obvious. More and more Middle Eastern countries no longer regard the United States as a scourge, and their awe has greatly decreased. The United States' voice in the Middle East is becoming less and less important.

(End of this chapter)