Foreign Affairs: Why does the U.S. forget the Korean War and China remembers it?

Foreign Affairs published an article with advice for the U.S. administration on the lessons of the Korean War (1950-1953), and why the U.S. has forgotten them while China uses them as inspiration.

In light of China's current moves, the U.S. must understand how Beijing is using the legacy of the Korean War as a form of preparation for future wars. It is inconceivable that, for Americans, the Korean War should remain trapped between memories of victory in World War II and perceptions of tragedy in Vietnam.

Preparation

The article emphasized that Chinese President Xi Jinping's statements to his military leaders to prepare for a fight, and the evidence of cyber battles over the Taiwan issue, are indicative of what will happen if Washington does not learn the lessons of the Korean War.

Although then U.S. President Harry Truman (1945-1953) and his advisors mostly wanted the war to never happen, President-elect Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) traveled to the Korean Peninsula and discussed the possibility of escalation, even agreeing to develop war plans involving the use of nuclear weapons.

The Truman administration's "tragic diplomatic shortsightedness" was exacerbated by the deteriorating capabilities of the U.S. military, with the number of active U.S. troops dropping to 90% from 12 million in 1945, and defense spending fading from 40% of GDP in 1945 to roughly 5% in 1950.

Lessons

The first lesson for the United States is that it should not neglect its deterrence and readiness system, as it almost lost the Korean War as a result of the failures of the Truman administration, Foreign Affairs said.

The parallels between the 1950s and today are clear: the West's inability to accept that opponents of the United States do not think the way Americans do, especially since the CCP sees nothing wrong with twisting the truth to further its own ambitions, the Foreign Affairs article said.

According to the article, Washington failed to deter its adversaries during the Korean War, prolonging the fighting to 1953 instead of 1951, so Washington must do better in the future.

Politics and combat

The fact that the war has dragged on for another two years reveals a second valuable lesson to be learned: that politics and combat are deeply intertwined, and never separate.

Today, as in the past, U.S. adversaries have a more sophisticated understanding of the interplay between battlefield maneuvering and political warfare than their American counterparts, he said.

He emphasized that for the Chinese Communist Party in particular, there is no separation between peace and war.

According to the Foreign Affairs article, the third lesson learned from the Korean War is that once fighting breaks out, excessive restraint can lead to further aggression.

In contrast, showing a serious willingness to escalate and dominate if necessary can promote peace.

He emphasizes that this contradiction is not so much about expressing a desire for World War III as it is about setting a course to prevent it.

Source: Foreign Affairs