Asia in a global war

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses the role of Asia in a future large‐scale war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet military buildup in the Far East and Asia's growing economic importance have led some observers to suggest that Asia rather than Europe may become the locus for a future U.S.‐Soviet war. In spite of these changes, however, a “big” U.S.‐Soviet war remains less likely to arise in Asia through escalation of local conflicts in the Far East than through the spread of clashes originating elsewhere, e.g., in Europe or the Persian Gulf. There are a number of reasons, historical and strategic, for thinking that the Soviet Union would not deliberately attack U.S. forces or allies in the Far East in a war that had begun outside of Asia. The United States is therefore likely itself to face the choice of whether to expand a European or South West Asian conflict to the Far East. This can be done in a number of ways, for example, through attacks on Soviet naval forces in the Sea of Okho...