Defense of the Homeland

The Importance of Public Support

The intelligence and military communities are concerned that we are entering a dangerous historic period not unlike that just before the First and Second World Wars when great power competition turned into war.

It is recognized that between the interwar time period after the First World War and the beginning of the Second World War, many Nation States did not feel the threat level emerging until it was almost too late.

As the U.S. General Douglas MacArthur once warned, and I quote, “The history of failure in war can almost be summed up in two words: Too Late. Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy; too late in realizing the mortal danger; too late in preparedness; too late in uniting all possible forces for resistance; too late in standing with one’s friends.” To this should be added, ‘too late in preparing the public for the real possibility of war breaking out in the near future’.

Today most of us are not recognizing the growing likelihood of war in the coming years. We seem to be repeating the time of the interwar period when the democracies were slow to recognize the developing dangers. This is despite the fact that we have now entered a very dangerous time with our adversaries, especially China.

The reality is that we are already at a Cold War stage with China if one considers China’s wolf warrior coercive diplomacy, economic coercion, and covert subversion including cyber-attacks, espionage, intellectual property theft, propaganda, deception, and its unleashing of a worldwide pandemic. Additionally, China continues to engage in an ongoing campaign of threats of actual military armed attacks. In fact, China sees us as weak and are pushing the limits of aggressive military activity.

All indicators are that the threat of major armed conflict is ‘flashing red’ and moving forward at rapid speed. Therefore, it is imperative that we all understand about the realistic possibility of war breaking out with China and other near-peer adversaries.

It is a well-known fact that if war does break out, it will depend on the public’s support to assure victory. Wars can be won by the military on the battlefield, but lost on the Home Front by the lack of public support.

Adversaries know that defeating a country’s military power is unnecessary if they can defeat that Nation States’ will to use that power. Wars can be won simply by demoralizing a country’s citizens.

It is therefore critical that citizens of America and its allies are instilled with patriotism and are totally supportive of their governments and military. This sort of strong determination can function as a deterrent by communicating to our potential enemies that there is sufficient domestic fortitude and morale to continue any potential war until victory.