A New Generation of War Between Russia and Ukraine, and the Strengthening of the Indo-Pacific Strategy for the US
The war in Ukraine is entering a stalemate. Recently, Russia has concentrated its firepower on the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine has started to organize a series of counterattacks.
The United States and other NATO countries are increasing their military assistance to Ukraine. The Czech Republic recently delivered more than ten T-72 tanks and BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, the first tanks the Ukrainian army has received since the outbreak of the war. Tanks are offensive weapons, and Ukraine is ready to counterattack to regain the eastern part of the country.
The United States has already provided Ukraine with the most advanced drone called Switchblades. With the Javelin anti-tank missiles and the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that the United States sent earlier, the Ukrainian army has acquired the world’s most advanced anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapon systems, and these weapons are dominating the battlefield in Ukraine.
Shi Shan, senior editor and lead writer at The Epoch Times, said that the Russia-Ukraine war is a confrontation between two warfare paradigms of different eras. Shi noted that if we divide human warfare into three generations—cold weapon, hot weapon, and information-age—then the United States is the only country entering the third generation. Other military powers, including Russia, China, and other powers, only slightly surpass the second generation level. He pointed out that Ukraine is a little special. After Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, the United States helped Ukraine build up a new army, which enabled Ukraine to have the military and equipment to enter the third generation of warfare directly.
Brandon Weichert, a U.S. military strategic and geopolitical analyst, pointed out that U.S. high-tech companies, such as SpaceX, are acting as force multipliers in this war, which is 100 percent driven by technology. Russia, however, does not have access to the technology to wage a third-generation war, nor does it have the money to buy or manufacture sufficient modern weapons.
Weichert mentioned that Russia lacked precision-guided munitions, a problem that was already evident during the 2008 Georgian War. Russia relied on the U.S. GPS satellite system for navigation back then. The United States was able to shut down the military use of GPS in the early stages of the war, forcing Russia to use inaccurate conventional bombs.
Weichert said that although Russia has been making precision-guided munitions for the past 15 years, they have run out of them now, which is why Russia had to carpet-bomb areas such as Mariupol and Kharkiv.
Ming Juzheng, an emeritus professor of political science at the National Taiwan University and a senior researcher at SinoInsider, said that human warfare from ancient times to the present could not be separate from technology. It seems particularly obvious this time that it is a disproportionate war. During the time of globalization, it is probably the first time we have seen such a pronounced effect of economic and financial sanctions on war, which has also caused a significant impact on the international production chain and international division of labor.
The war also made the United States and the West see the threat of the Chinese Communist Party more clearly. According to Shi, the Russian-Ukrainian war is the greatest threat to Europeans. It also prepared the United States for a future confrontation with the Chinese Communist Party.
Shi also pointed out that, in addition to the U.S.-Japan alliance, the U.S.-Korea alliance, the U.S.-Philippines alliance, the U.S.-Japan-India-Australia quadrilateral alliance, and the U.S.-UK-Australia alliance, another coalition will soon emerge. The various ties between the United States and Southeast Asia will begin to grow more robust. The recent launch of the largest joint military exercise between the United States and the Philippines in 30 years shows that the U.S. military is strengthening its Southeast Asian alliance.
Pinnacle View, a new TV program launched at the end of 2021 by New Tang Dynasty and The Epoch Times, is a high-end TV forum based on events surrounding China. The program gathers elites from around the world and from all walks of life, focuses on hot issues, analyzes the world’s major trends, and provides viewers with in-depth observations on current events and historical facts.
This edition of Pinnacle View focuses on the decisive role of advanced technology in the Russia-Ukraine War. It explores how the United States and Western countries learned from the war to deal with the threat of the Chinese Communist Party in a new warfare paradigm. For all the highlights, please watch online.
Pinnacle View production team