Regional Alliances: A Political, Military, and Economic Strategy to Confront Hostile Regional Powers

Abstract

IntroductionRussia and China have recently displayed aggressive actions that have steadily garnered international concern. The United States, as a country interested in preserving the existing international order, share apprehensions towards potential disruptions that could affect its interests. The intensifying nationalist sentiment of rising powers, their increasing military strength, demonstrable willingness to employ military aggression, and freshly invigorated territorial claims cause defenders of the status quo to worry that war is on the horizon. Will Russia and China make a bold attempt to seize what they claim as theirs? No fewer than two other regional powers give cause for concern. Neighbors of North Korea and Iran warily keep watch for aggressive actions from these rogue states. To what extent should threatened neighbors take precautions to protect their territorial integrity in the interests of national security? As seen in some recent signs of weakness from the threatened, a new generation of untested leaders and their respective populations must learn the lessons of peace through strength in order to protect themselves from possible aggression. Threatened countries should create, strengthen, and expand military alliances between mutually interested partners, grow military capability by ensuring adequate defense spending, and demonstrate the willingness to take military action against aggressors in order to lessen the threat of attack. Starting with an assessment of the present challenges, then examining how global powers should shield regional alliances during their formation, and lastly, analyzing the respective failure and success of alliances of World War I and the Cold War, this article proposes a strategy to thwart potentially hostile state-based regional powers. A nation or alliance facing a hostile regional power must match at least one-third of the potential aggressor's defense spending to discourage an aggressor, but should aim for matching two-thirds. Global powers should foster the formation of regional alliances in order to maintain the status quo.Russia: Returning to Grandeur of 19th Century Empire?The Russian Federation recently seized control of Crimea and poses a lasting threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The international community has resoundingly condemned this action. Led by the United States in the form of sanctions, a number of countries have taken limited action to punish Russia. Although mostly symbolic, the U.S. has also exercised shows of military force consisting of small-force deployments in the region that demonstrate a level of resolve against further aggression. Ukraine offered very little resistance to the initial takeover of Crimea and stands little chance of successfully opposing a conventional invasion of their mainland. However, the country is now using military force to quell rebellion allegedly stoked by Russia.Many speculate about Russia's motives, but only Putin himself may comprehend the country's ultimate objective. Regardless of whether to reestablish the former greatness of czarist Russia, secure access to resources, or following through on face-value claims to secure ethnic Russians, the uncertainty of knowing obligates Russia's neighbors to make prudent hedges against the worst case scenario.In general, Russia's actions towards Ukraine have revealed some weaknesses in the West, but have also created an opportunity to renew Europe's interest in collective defense. Russia's nearby NATO members, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have vocalized a need for greater strength. Former Warsaw Pact nations of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia fled the Eastern bloc after the fall of the Berlin Wall and have since achieved NATO membership, but surely Russia's new assertiveness must make them feel uneasy. However, these countries have not made sufficient effort to protect themselves against Russia, relied on the potential of other countries to augment their defensive capability, or primarily sought political alliances that rely more on the signature of documents rather than building their own military force. …