American Grand Strategy & the Logic of War | Edward Luttwak

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Government, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Episode 338 of Hidden Forces, speaks with Dr. Edward Luttwak about American grand strategy and the logic of war. Dr. Luttwak is an author and consultant to governments and companies around the world and is known for his work on grand strategy, military strategy and history, and international relations.

Luttwak and Kofinas spend the first hour of their conversation discussing the logic of war and the dimensions of strategy, how the nature of a nation state’s political system influences its grand strategic objectives, and what American grand strategy is and should be given the strategic challenges the United States faces in the 21st century.

In the second hour, the conversation shifts to China given U.S. President Biden’s and Xi Jinping’s recent in-person meeting at the APEC summit in San Francisco. Edward Luttwak explains why he believes that it would be a very bad idea if China attempted to take Taiwan by force, how it would find itself at war with the United States and an assortment of regional and international allies, why it would lose that war, and why that still won’t deter Xi Jinping from trying to retake the island by force. The two also discuss the implications of China’s nearly three decade-long one-child policy for its military readiness and what Beijing’s push to increase domestic grain production as part of its initiative to promote food security (even at the expense of long-standing efforts to reforest the country) can tell us about Xi Jinping’s desire to ready the country for war.

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Episode Recorded on 11/15/2023

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up everybody? My name is the Major Kaffinas and you're listening to Hidden Forces, a
0:06.0	podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs and everyday citizens to challenge
0:12.3	consensus narratives and to learn how to think critically about the systems of power shaping our world. My guest in this episode of Hidden Forces is Dr. Edward Lutwak, an author and consultant to governments and companies around
0:26.0	the world known for his work on grand strategy, military strategy and history, and international
0:32.2	relations.
0:33.6	Dr Lutwok and I spend the first hour of our conversation
0:36.6	discussing the logic and dimensions of strategy,
0:39.7	how the nature of a nation-state's political system
0:42.2	influences its grand strategic objectives,
0:45.1	and what American grand strategy is and should be, given the strategic challenges the United States
0:50.6	faces in the 21st century.
0:53.0	In the second hour, the conversation shifts to China,
0:56.1	given President Biden's and Jejing Ping's recent in-person meeting
1:00.3	at the Apex Summit in San Francisco.
1:02.8	Dr Lutwok explains why he believes that it would be a very bad idea if China attempted
1:08.2	to take Taiwan by force.
1:10.1	How would find itself at war with the United States and an assortment of regional and international
1:15.0	allies, why it would lose that war and why that still won't deter Jeejing Ping from trying
1:20.5	to retake the island by force.
1:23.2	We also discuss the implications of China's nearly three-decade long
1:26.8	one-child policy for its military readiness,
1:29.9	and what Beijing's pushed to increase domestic grain production capacity as part of an effort to promote food security,
	...

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