Through the Tiger’s Eyes: Enabling the Second American Century
by Joshua Edwards, by Steven Biebel
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10.24.2025 at 06:00am
The 1982 American sports drama film, Rocky III is analogous for what happened to the U.S. in a post-Cold War era with an emerging China. Rocky III begins with a recall to the final moments of the previous movie, Rocky II, where the protagonist, Rocky, defeats Apollo Creed for the Boxing Heavyweight Championship. It then transitions to Rocky defeating inferior fighters, while the antagonist, Clubber Lang, is in the crowd analyzing Rocky’s performance. Clubber Lang is shown training and defeating his opponents with vicious efficiency as he moves and improves his rankings. Rocky, oblivious to the challenger, focuses his attention to luxury items, endorsements, and the guest appearances on the Muppet Show. Clubber Lang defeats Rocky early in the movie, which requires Rocky to learn a new way to fight from Apollo Creed to regain his championship. Using this analogy, the U.S. is Rocky, and it must refocus to maintain core capabilities while innovating how it competes to retain its world standing.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States became a unipolar hyperpower. Without a strategic peer competitor to unify national strategy and drive innovation, Pax Americana was assumed to be “the end of history” to the short-sighted. This led to fostered complacency, lethargy, and frankly arrogance. While the U.S. rested on past achievements, China observed and exploited opportunities to gain every strategic advantage while simultaneously presenting themselves as benevolent actors to the rest of the world. China’s relationship with the U.S. shifted from a junior partner to one that is now overtly competing and conducting unrestricted warfare (or executing civil-mil fusion ISO their 3-warfare strategies) within areas like the diplomatic, cyber, economic, and legal arenas against the U.S. This paper outlines how the Department of Defense (DOD) invests in the competitive space to improve the economy and deter direct conflict.
Deterrence and Insulation
The war in Ukraine is a stark reminder that economic deterrence is not assured. George Washington, in his first State of the Union, said, “to be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” History has shown that the US’s inability to keep a state of military readiness came at considerable cost. These painful lessons eventually led to consistent levels of readiness that featured a historic military capable of protecting national interests. The supercarrier is an example of firm national hard power, to civilian and military audiences alike. Yet, the real value of deterrence resides with the effects that the air wing can deliver. While the aircraft carrier and aircraft are “the arm to deliver the punch”, the weapons are the power behind the knock-out punch. Knowing that the U.S. can deliver this punch has forced several international de-escalations, such as the 1996 Taiwan Straight Crisis. The power of a carrier strike group provided an off-ramp with China, though this may no longer be the case. According to former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, “A healthy defense industrial base was needed because the U.S. would quickly run out of weapons in a war with a military on par with China”. While the current administration is taking positive actions to improve the defense industrial base, it is critical to ensure that the Armed Services are properly resourced to overcome challenges aligned with our strategic interests. Further, research and manufacturing should be flexible so that once jobs are created in the factory, the workers can shift to support other options to maintain jobs. The industrial expansion will provide employment opportunities to maintain a skilled labor force. Strategic planning could mitigate risks like the Littoral Combat Ship, where job preservation interests were more important than military capability. The Joint Warfighting Concept is the Pentagon’s whole-of-force effort to update the U.S. way of war for the 21st Century battlefield.
https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/10/24/through-the-tigers-eyes-enabling-the-second-american-century/
