Closing the gap between U.S. power and its foreign policy commitments, while recognizing the non-utility of nuclear weapons (both strategic and tactical), would require a build-up of America’s military-industrial surge capacity, a reduction in overseas commitments, or both. The former would require the reshoring of many lost industrial supply chains. The latter would require not merely burden-sharing among existing allies, but burden-shedding by Washington to former protectorates that would now have to protect themselves, with only residual support from the United States…

Shortages of essential personal protective equipment (PPE) and medicines during the Covid-19 pandemic endangered the lives of many Americans and medical personnel, while the inflation-stoking shortages that have followed pandemic-caused lockdowns have illustrat­ed the dangers of disruptions to supply chains of many kinds. At the same time, the deepening military and strategic rivalry between the…

The Covid-19 pandemic brought tragedy and disruption to America. But it has also provided another stark warning concern­ing the country’s disastrous overreliance on overseas production. It has demon­strated that without a strong, self-reliant industrial base, this country’s ability to forge a healthy, prosperous future—and even its ability to defend itself against foreign enemies—will be severely compromised. The fact that the world’s largest, and theoretically most advanced, economy could not provide…

Trade Wars Are Class Wars is an excellent guide to one kind of trade war, the competition for limited global consumer demand, a trade war which is indeed a class war within nations. About the other kind of trade war, the competition among nations for strategic indus­tries, the book has nothing to say. Those seeking guidance on this issue must look elsewhere…