Yulia O'Connell’s Post

@mikepompeo: a new strategic concept could be useful in the #US military’s defense of #Taiwan Last week the #Pentagon released its budget for 2025, and the implications for U.S. #nationalsecurity give pause for thought. The U.S. military needs a new approach to protect itself from the worst-case scenarios that #China might impose. How we got here is no mystery. China has geographic, strategic, and financial advantages over the #UnitedStates that it could exploit in the fight for #Taiwan. #ExtremaRatio https://lnkd.in/dF4R3BDi

On April 19, 2024, #China announced the establishment of a new arm of the military: #thePLA Information Support Force (中国人民解放军信息支援部队) The PLA operates on the principle of four services: the Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force. In 2014, as part of the reform of the military, the Strategic Support Forces of the PLA was created, which has been responsible for deterring information and psychological threats to troops and the population. China closely monitors conflicts in the world, analyzing psychological and information operations of conflicts’ major actors. It has concluded that the use of sophisticated tactics of psychological influence on the enemy’s troops and population has reached an unprecedented scale, with an impact not only on the armed forces of the conflicting rivals, but also on the entire regional and even global information space. This analysis prompted the PLA leadership to elevate the status of the Army’s SSF to that of a separate arm of the military. Now, in addition to the Aerospace Force, Cyber Force, and Joint Logistic Support Force, there is the Information Support Force, which is responsible for the success of military operations in the information space. Lt Gen Bi Yi is appointed as the Commander of the ISF and Gen Li Wei is appointed as a Political Commissar. Bi was previously the Deputy Commander of the PLA SSF and has also served as the Deputy Minister of the Training Management Department of the Central Military Commission. Li was the Political Commissar of the South Xinjiang Military Region, Xinjiang Military Region and the PLA SSF. They will report directly to the country’s top military leadership at the Central Military Commission of the PRC. China is reforming its military forces to successfully conduct war operations in the future. #military #cybersecurtiy #deterence #nationalsecurity #foreingpolicy

A Shift in Global Defense Priorities In the US, the House has passed a bill to automatically register 18 to 26-year-olds for the draft, reflecting heightened security concerns. Across the Atlantic, the UK’s Prime Minister has proposed reintroducing a form of national military service to enhance national defense capabilities and prepare for future challenges. This year marks a significant milestone for NATO, with 23 out of its 32 member nations projected to meet the alliance's 2% of GDP defense spending target. This is a stark contrast to a decade ago when only three countries— the US, UK, and Greece — achieved this benchmark. This shift underscores the profound impact of recent global events on defense priorities. New members, Sweden and Finland, add $16 billion to NATO's budget, boosting its total expenditure. Despite these contributions, the US remains the largest spender, with its defense budget reaching nearly $968 billion in 2024, making up 65% of NATO’s total. Surprisingly, Poland leads in spending relative to GDP, dedicating over 4%. #NATO #DefenseSpending #GlobalSecurity #MilitaryService #Geopolitics

This chart shows the military spending of NATO countries, including their share of GDP in 2023. NATO members are required to contribute at least 2% of their GDP in defense spending. Only 11 out of 30 countries meet the required commitment. While we worry in the USA that our math skills are not what they used to be, the problem seems to be more pronounced in Europe, since many European countries have a difficult time determining what 2% means.

"The United States of America is globally recognized for its high defense spending and immense military. It ranked #1 in the world in terms of military spending in 2020, with the figure coming up to a whopping $778 billion. This figure surpassed the figure spent by the next nine highest spenders combined, which came up to $703.6 billion in totality. There are a great number of factors behind this extremely large spending, some of which include the longstanding tradition of the defense and weapons industries that work in collusion with the U.S government and armed forces along with the military-industrial complex (MIC), which feeds into the U.S.’ defense dominance." #MilitarySpending #DefenseBudget #USMilitary #VisualCapitalist #MilitaryIndustrialComplex #GlobalSecurity #ArmedForces #NationalDefense #Geopolitics #MilitaryPersonnel #MexitNews

"The United States of America is globally recognized for its high defense spending and immense military. It ranked #1 in the world in terms of military spending in 2020, with the figure coming up to a whopping $778 billion. This figure surpassed the figure spent by the next nine highest spenders combined, which came up to $703.6 billion in totality. There are a great number of factors behind this extremely large spending, some of which include the longstanding tradition of the defense and weapons industries that work in collusion with the U.S government and armed forces along with the military-industrial complex (MIC), which feeds into the U.S.’ defense dominance." #MilitarySpending #DefenseBudget #USMilitary #VisualCapitalist #MilitaryIndustrialComplex #GlobalSecurity #ArmedForces #NationalDefense #Geopolitics #MilitaryPersonnel #MexitNews

"The United States of America is globally recognized for its high defense spending and immense military. It ranked #1 in the world in terms of military spending in 2020, with the figure coming up to a whopping $778 billion. This figure surpassed the figure spent by the next nine highest spenders combined, which came up to $703.6 billion in totality. There are a great number of factors behind this extremely large spending, some of which include the longstanding tradition of the defense and weapons industries that work in collusion with the U.S government and armed forces along with the military-industrial complex (MIC), which feeds into the U.S.’ defense dominance." #MilitarySpending #DefenseBudget #USMilitary #VisualCapitalist #MilitaryIndustrialComplex #GlobalSecurity #ArmedForces #NationalDefense #Geopolitics #MilitaryPersonnel #MexitNews

"The United States of America is globally recognized for its high defense spending and immense military. It ranked #1 in the world in terms of military spending in 2020, with the figure coming up to a whopping $778 billion. This figure surpassed the figure spent by the next nine highest spenders combined, which came up to $703.6 billion in totality. There are a great number of factors behind this extremely large spending, some of which include the longstanding tradition of the defense and weapons industries that work in collusion with the U.S government and armed forces along with the military-industrial complex (MIC), which feeds into the U.S.’ defense dominance." #MilitarySpending #DefenseBudget #USMilitary #VisualCapitalist #MilitaryIndustrialComplex #GlobalSecurity #ArmedForces #NationalDefense #Geopolitics #MilitaryPersonnel #MexitNews

The Biden-Harris administration seems to be doing everything in its power to hamper the capacity and capability of our military, and adversaries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are noticing 👇 1. Recruiting is down so significantly, our armed forces have to put stop-loss in place to maintain necessary manpower. 2. Our troops are serving as targets in the Middle East and have barely been allowed to respond to the adversaries that attack them. 3. We’re spending more to house illegal aliens in the United States than we are to improve the housing for our military service members. 4. The Department of Defense is spending $500 million on women's health studies and recently awarded a contract to Deloitte for over $2 billion to help them figure out how to build submarines. The Biden-Harris administration’s weakness breeds aggression, and it it isn’t reversed quickly, things are going to get far more dangerous for America.