The pages that follow offer a detailed consideration of the importance of a strong industrial base for the maintenance of a strong military, and the significance of U.S. dependency on foreign allies (or even adversaries) for key resources needed by its industrial base. China’s policies on this subject are also reviewed, with a key focus on how Beijing’s state-centric model has enabled it to develop both industrial and military capabilities at rapid speed.
This paper also includes a comparative analysis of the military strength of the U.S. and China. It points out that numbers and statistics can be deceiving. This is partly so because, while U.S. military forces are dispersed around the world, Chinese military resources are concentrated in the West Pacific, meaning that it would have a great advantage in the event of hostilities in that region.
