S8 Ep298: HISTORICAL ECHOES: THE 10-YEAR RULE AND TIANANMEN BLINDNESS Colleagues James Fanell and Bradley Thayer. The authors draw parallels between current US policy and the British Empire's 1919 "10-year rule," which slashed defense spending based on the assumpti

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 11 January 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

HISTORICAL ECHOES: THE 10-YEAR RULE AND TIANANMEN BLINDNESS Colleagues James Fanell and Bradley Thayer. The authors draw parallels between current US policy and the British Empire's 1919 "10-year rule," which slashed defense spending based on the assumption of peace, leading to unpreparedness for WWII. Fanell recalls his intelligence experience post-Tiananmen Square, noting the US Navy dismissed the PLA Navy threat while myopically focusing on Russia. Thayer criticizes the US response to the 1989 massacre, where the Bush administration rushed to repair relations rather than recognizing the CCP as a "sadistic monster." They argue this failure to perceive the true nature of the regime allowed China to rise without political reform. FANELL NUMBER 2
1905 SHANGHAI RIOTS, BRITISH EMPIRE SIKH PATROL

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0:00.0	Hiring isn't just about finding someone willing to take the job.
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0:34.4	with Indeed.
0:40.6	I'm John Bachelor with Jim Fennell and Brad Thayer.
0:44.9	Their new book is Embracing Communist China, America's greatest strategic failure.
0:49.9	While the PLA Navy is demonstrating its threat against the ally, Taiwan, and the whole of Western Pacific,
0:58.5	threatened by the PLA Navy, including our allies in Japan and the Philippines and Australia,
1:04.5	we look to 1919, as Jim and Brad have identified, as a moment when the British Empire lost the Second World War.
1:13.4	Why?
1:14.3	Because Germany was in ruins, nothing to worry about.
1:18.0	In fact, let us help them as best we can with our diplomats,
1:23.1	but not too much.
1:24.6	Let them sort it out.
1:25.9	Let them use the Weimar and the parliament and their own disorder with communism.
1:32.9	And we can take confidence of the 10-year rule. Jim, what was the 10-year rule that the British Empire employed in 1919 that led to the defeat of 1940?
1:45.2	I'm going to let Brad answer that one.
1:47.4	Well, I'm happy to.
1:49.6	Jim, the 10-year rule was put in place by defense planners in the United Kingdom.
	...

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