It’s no secret that relations between the United States and China have been tense in recent years, nor that they are growing more so. There are several reasons for this, not least of which is the rise of what a recent Rand Corporation study is calling “neomedievalism.”
They list the key findings of their study as follows:
- Politically, the centralized nation-state is in steep decline, spurring severe political crises in many countries.
- Economically, growth has slowed and become imbalanced, leading to the return of entrenched inequalities and expansion of illicit economies.
- Nonstate threats, including pandemics, banditry, and ecological and natural disasters, could outpace rival militaries as security concerns.
- Preindustrial aspects of warfare have reemerged, including the prevalence of siege warfare, irregular and protracted conflict, the privatization of warfare, and the prominence of…
