Our goal needs to be to ensure we maintain a war enabling technical and manufacturing capacity advantage in domestic industry.
We need to align our most trusted and inner circle of allies with us (economy of scale) and certain critical technologies.
The new era we are entering will challenge us industrially like we never have been before. We are facing off with someone that already today has TWICE our manufacturing base, more engineers, more patents in the sciences and engineering, etc: example AI.
https://fortune.com/2025/11/11/is-china-about-to-win-the-ai-race/
I agree, and think partnering with the likes of Japan and South Korea is a good approach. Oddly, I have a feeling if push came to shove, that Vietnam wouldn't ally with China. I have heard that there is some genuine pro-American sentiment there, and it is hard to believe given their history that they would ally with China, even if they still are communists.
I wonder about Australia. I always loved meeting Aussies over the years (never been there) but I always appreciated that they fought with us in Vietnam, and regarded them as somewhat legendary from our WWII alliance. But I have heard strange things over the last decade, especially since COVID, that make me wonder.