{"id":51716,"date":"2015-12-16T21:02:59","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T21:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/12\/16\/commentary-chinas-casablanca-moment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:45:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:45:59","slug":"commentary-chinas-casablanca-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2015\/12\/16\/commentary-chinas-casablanca-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: China\u2019s &#8216;Casablanca&#8217; Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When China&#8217;s naval commander recently told his US\u00a0counterpart that &#8220;a minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea if the United States did not stop its \u2018provocative acts\u2019 in the disputed waterway,&#8221;\u00a0he revealed that the Chinese are, despite protestations, acting more and more like Germans before the US\u00a0entered World War II.<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> Upon American entry into the war, Winston Churchill knew that the war was won, and, despite hard fighting ahead, he was correct.\u00a0With the virtue of 20-20 hindsight, America\u2019s alliance victory was inevitable.<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> Adm.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">iral<\/span> Wu Shengli\u2019s comments to US\u00a0Chief of Naval Operations Adm.\u00a0John Richardson during a video teleconference <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">on Thursday <\/span>sound eerily like Maj.\u00a0Strasser in the movie &#8220;Casablanca,&#8221; imagining the Nazis in New York. Humphrey Bogart, in an immortal line that resonates through the decades, replies:<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> &#8220;Well there are certain sections of New York, major, that I wouldn&#8217;t advise you to try to invade.&#8221;<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> We remember Rick Blaine\u2019s retort so well because it rang so true, and because Maj.\u00a0Strasser\u2019s boast was so hollow.<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> This exchange with Adm.\u00a0Wu reminds of the period after the end of the war in Vietnam when the Soviet <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">N<\/span>navy\u2019s buildup had so many worried.\u00a0Not the US\u00a0Navy. Taking a round turn, American sailors reiterated the US\u00a0Navy\u2019s inherent offensive doctrine and operational flexibility;\u00a0established a maritime strategy approach of horizontal escalation and conventional offense as opposed to automatic resort to tactical nuclear weapons at sea and on the central front;\u00a0and leveraged political advantages at the strategic level. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Navy approach was so compelling that, in essence, it provided the outlines of what became a new national security strategy that led to the end of the Cold War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Technology played a major role in the Navy&#8217;s new focus.\u00a0For example, considering whether the new offensive strategy was realistic and feasible, the Navy fielded midlife upgrades for its Sturgeon-class (SSN-637) nuclear-powered fast attack submarines in the 1980s. The upgrade included the BQQ-5 sonar suite with a retractable towed array.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These technical upgrades had remarkable operational, doctrinal\u00a0and strategic consequences, essentially making the ocean transparent for American submarines. The US\u00a0Navy now was able to &#8220;see&#8221; the Soviet submarine fleet, and confident of defeating it in detail. More than a tactical advantage, it confirmed that the offensive focus of the maritime strategy and holding the Soviet <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">N<\/span>navy at risk was feasible. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These submarine improvements, combined with Aegis, the outer air battle\u00a0and the nuclear Tomahawk land attack cruise missile (TLAM-N),\u00a0underscored American naval power. They reinforced the Air-Land Battle, DoD&#8217;s Competitive Strategies Initiative\u00a0and the Second Offset Strategy (more formally known as the ARPA-DNA Long Range Research and Development Planning Program). The rest, as they say, was history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the Chinese are acting more and more like Maj.\u00a0Strasser, the US\u00a0is living up to the role of Rick Blaine. We are establishing new partnerships in the Asia-Pacific\u00a0and strengthening alliances. We are drawing operational lines in the sand (pun intended), and developing astounding new military capabilities that will confound the Chinese at sea and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OSD is well along with its Third Offset Strategy.\u00a0Perhaps most important, we are reckoning the potential for conflict, and standing up as did Rick Blaine.<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> China&#8217;s heavy-handed behavior is repugnant, counterproductive\u00a0and contrary to the norms of international law. Like Maj.\u00a0Strasser, the Chinese have overplayed their hand, and are in for a rude awakening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Giarra is president of Global Strategies &amp; Transformation.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China&#8217;s naval commander recently told his US counterpart that \u201ca minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":113597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":66,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[66,33,17],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1008],"class_list":["post-51716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-home","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UL4THN7PEBBOPEGGSZDTOXQQHU","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/commentary\/2015\/12\/16\/commentary-chinas-casablanca-moment\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Commentary: China\u2019s &#039;Casablanca&#039; Moment - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"China&#039;s naval commander recently told his US counterpart that \u201ca minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2015\/12\/16\/commentary-chinas-casablanca-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Commentary: China\u2019s &#039;Casablanca&#039; Moment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China&#039;s naval commander recently told his US counterpart that \u201ca minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2015\/12\/16\/commentary-chinas-casablanca-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-16T21:02:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:45:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul S. 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