US President Donald Trump has signed his 200th executive order since taking office. According to this order, the name of the "Department of Defense" will henceforth be the "Department of War." This is a significant achievement for Trump and his team. However, in parallel, China is also trying to further increase its military power. The grand parade of official Beijing and the display of unique weapons at it indicate that a new era of armaments has begun in the world.
US President Donald Trump has signed his 200th executive order since taking office. According to this order, the name of the "Department of Defense" will henceforth be the "Department of War." However, in order for this order to have full legal status and become an official name, this idea must be supported by the US Congress. And this is unlikely. Because it is unlikely that there will be a serious agreement between the two parties in the US Congress on this issue. But Trump is not interested in this. If not officially, then unofficially, calling the Pentagon the “War Department” is an important achievement for Trump and his team. According to Trump, words and names have a huge psychological effect. In order for the United States to win in global competition and to be able to put pressure on others more effectively, it had to move from a “defense” position to a “firm” and “aggressive” position.
In fact, the United States called this ministry the “War Department” from the beginning of its statehood after gaining independence from the British Empire until the end of World War II. It was only in 1947 that it was changed to the “Department of Defense.” So why do Trump and his supporters intend to call this institution the “War Department” today? What does this indicate?
When the former USSR collapsed, the socialist camp also collapsed with it. As a result, unipolarity appeared in the world. The will of the United States was like a law for all other countries. However, this situation did not last long. However, in recent decades, a trend towards multipolarity has begun in the world. Today, the People's Republic of China is seen as a strategic rival to the United States. In addition, the Russian Federation, the European Union, India, and the countries of the global south are also the most important participants in the formation of multipolarity.
On September 3, a military parade was held in China to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. At this parade, China showed off its most modern and diverse military weapons and equipment. 20-30 years ago, China mainly purchased its military equipment from the Russian Federation. However, today the situation has completely changed. Today, China is fully self-sufficient in weapons and equipment, it has complete military-technical sovereignty and independence. In addition, it has risen to the status of a modern arms dealer. This is seen as a great achievement for Beijing.
At the parade, the PRC demonstrated several types of missiles, including missiles capable of shooting down satellites in the sky, various types of drones, advanced robots in the form of animals, and laser weapons. The main characteristic of the weapons demonstrated by Beijing is the most modern, new equipment aimed at future wars. The Chinese arms fair at the parade surprised many experts and politicians.
At the same time, it should be noted that the vast majority of weapons demonstrated at the military parade in Beijing have not been tested in real battles. How effective these weapons will be in real battles, how cool and professional the Chinese military can be in battles - there is still no clear answer to these questions. For comparison, for many years the Russian Federation has been showing off its most modern weapons to the whole world at its annual May 9 parades. However, the Russia-Ukraine war has shown that these weapons have hardly been used, and even when they have been used, they have not been effective enough to make a sharp turn. That is, there are open questions about the quantity and quality of the weapons displayed by Russia in the May parades.
One of the most important events at the military parade in Beijing was the People's Republic of China's announcement to the whole world that it has a "nuclear triad".
Trump's change of the name of the Ministry of Defense to the "Ministry of War" comes against the backdrop of increased military demonstrations by the PRC. By this, the US wants to say that "we are ready for wars to maintain our position." The formation of multipolarity in the world is accelerating. Against this background, what should the Central Asian region, located in the center of Eurasia, the largest continent in the world, do? Central Asia is located at the global geopolitical crossroads. As long as an arms race begins between powerful states, as long as international law does not function effectively, and as long as a spirit of competition prevails among major powers, there can be no formula for long-term and effective survival for the countries of Central Asia and the Turkic world other than mutual integration, unity, and solidarity.
Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!
