Reviving the Military-Industrial Complex as a 21st-Century 'Freedom's Forge' to Deter China at Sea
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Freedom’s Forge for the 21st Century: America’s Maritime Revival | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." October 13, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that China is building ships and commercial shipping far faster than the U.S., which threatens American security. To deter China without fighting a war, America should rebuild its shipyards and merchant fleet the way it mobilized in World War II, and the author thinks Trump's maritime plan does that.
Conclusion
To deter China without going to war, the United States must revitalize its military-industrial base, especially shipbuilding and the merchant fleet, into a 'freedom's forge' for the 21st century, as Trump's maritime shipbuilding strategy aims to do.
Premises
- China is a totalitarian power potentially more dangerous than Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, and it poses a serious geopolitical challenge to the United States.
- Sea power, both commercial and military in Mahan's broad sense, is essential to American national security, and the U.S. is geopolitically an island power that depends on command of the seas.
- Historically, American sea power and the government-industry industrial partnership were decisive in winning World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.
- China now far outstrips the U.S. in maritime capacity: its Mahan ratio (merchant ships to warships) is about 20.31 versus the U.S. at 0.65, down from 5.31 in 1945, and China also poses a tougher maritime challenge than the Soviet Union did.
- The Trump administration's Maritime Action Plan, its $65.8 billion shipbuilding request, and recent public-private investments in shipyards are aimed at closing this gap and restoring maritime dominance.
- Strong military capability is a vital element of keeping the peace, because it deters potential aggressors; the risks of the military-industrial complex, as Eisenhower warned, do not negate this need.
Assumptions
- The merchant-to-navy 'Mahan ratio' is a valid and meaningful measure of national maritime power.
- Raw ship counts and tonnage translate into effective deterrence and warfighting capability.
- Historical lessons from World War II and the Cold War apply to the very different circumstances of competition with China.
- China is an aggressor-in-waiting that can be deterred by visible military and industrial strength.
- Government spending and public-private partnerships can effectively rebuild U.S. shipbuilding capacity in a reasonable timeframe.
- The dangers of an expanded military-industrial complex are outweighed by the security benefits.