The Peter Zeihan Podcast Series - The Greatest Threat to American National Security || Peter Zeihan

Episode Date: September 11, 2023

Senator Tommy Tuberville has placed a unilateral hold on nominations and confirmations of military officials because he doesn't like the Biden administration's current policy of allowing officers to travel for abortion services.Full Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/zeihan/the-greatest-threat-to-american-national-security

Hey everybody, Peter Zine here coming to you from Toronto, where I finally found something that is taller than me. And to commemorate September 11, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the largest significant national security threat facing the United States. It's not terrorism from the Middle East. One of the things that we have learned over the 20 years in the war on terror is that most of the militants, most of the Islamists, are interested in fighting what they call the near enemy. Doesn't mean that the risk to the United States is zero, but most of the most of the militants, most of the militants, most of the Islamists, are interested in fighting what they're interested in fighting. Doesn't mean that the risk to the United States is zero, but most of these folks are far more concerned with the war that is right in front of them, taking the conflict to secretarian opponents or groups that they think are apostates who are right there. Throwing a Hail Mary through a Trojan's continental flight, that is something that is simply difficult to do and most don't have the capacity to try. I also don't think it's China.

China is dependent on the international system as maintained by the United States. And even if Chairman Xi Jinping's cult of personality decides to pull the trigger on a war with, say, Taiwan, the United States is not going to engage within sight of the Chinese mainland. It's going to pull back and shut off Chinese trade. And since the Chinese import the vast majority of their energy and the inputs necessary to grow their own food, the result would be a massive famine and a deindustrialization with honestly would crush China as a country within a year. That leaves Russia. Now, Russia is obviously a concern, especially with,

the war in Ukraine, but as long as the war is bottled up in Ukraine or in Russia proper, that it's not coming for NATO. So while this is definitely something to keep an eye on, it is a big concern, it has huge implications, I don't see, at least in the midterm, as the single largest threat the United States faces. I think that's closer to home, because in the United States right now, we've got over 300 top military professionals who can't even qualify for their security clearances, making it impossible for them to get the information that they need to plan for whatever's next. We have hobbled ourselves, or more to the point, a specific individual in Congress has done the hobbling. Senator Tuberville of Alabama has put a blanket hold on the nominations,

on the confirmations of all military personnel as part of a TIF within the culture war. Now, whether if you stand on that culture war, that is your prerogative, but in blocking officers from participating in their jobs, if you can't get confirmed, you can't get the information, you can't get the clearance, and you can't make a plan. So we have taken, he has taken, the single most powerful military force in the world and gutted its leadership's ability to lead. Which means that either Senator Tuberville is one of the most skilled Chinese agents ever, or he's the dumbest person in Congress. And if you think of the personalities in Congress, that's a pretty strong statement. All right, everybody, take care.