SAN ANTONIO – The United States and the former Soviet Union had many confrontations during the Cold War. There were proxy wars, such as the wars in Vietnam and Korea, but the two superpowers of the 20th century never entered war with one another.
That reality is what inspired Admiral James Stavridis to write his book, “2034: A Novel of the Next World War”. The U.S. Navy veteran and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO said he believes Cold War literature helped prevent a full-on war between the U.S. and Soviet Union. Books and films helped people conceptualize how terrible a global war could be.
However, the Admiral also noticed the rising tensions with China, and how some people are calling it a second Cold War.
“There’s no substantive literature of what that war would look like, how we could stumble into it, how we could fail to control the ladder of escalation, what the consequences would be. So I started looking to the past, but really ended up writing a cautionary tale for the future,” Stavridis said.
He also said the United States needs to commit to strengthening relationships with its allies, and be a leader in international organizations, such as the United Nations and NATO.
“Be part of that international world, support those international organizations, they’re flawed. They’re difficult, they’re frustrating. I was part of NATO. Believe me, they’re frustrating bureaucracies. But at the end of the day, I’d rather have allies than not, especially as I watch the trajectory of a rising China,” Stavridis said.
You can get a copy of “2034: A Novel of the Next World War” here.