All Questions
Tagged with military armed-conflict
58
questions
46
votes
10
answers
18k
views
How is Russia able to maintain the 2nd most powerful military in the world at a fraction of the cost of the US & China?
The 2020 Military Strength Rankings list Russia's military as #2 in strength:
United States
Russia
China
However, their defense budget rankings show that Russia's only #8 in spending:
United States ...
CDJB♦
- 108k
44
votes
7
answers
16k
views
Why does the U.S military use mercenaries?
With a defense budget now totaling ~686-billion dollars a year – which is about the size of the next 8 largest defense budgets combined (figure) – why does the U.S military see the need to ...
- 747
29
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Based on International law, to what extent can Ukraine take aggressive military action within the territory of Russia?
I wonder, based on international law, if Ukraine takes aggressive military action in the territory of Russia, such as occupying some cities of Russia (I am not considering Donbas, Luhansk and Crimea ...
- 4,926
25
votes
5
answers
6k
views
What incentives (or stated motives) did the US have to attack Syria?
What were the motives stated for for the US attacking Syria or incentives to do that?
It doesn't seem like there was any immediate threat from Syria to the US. (After all, they neither have ICBM's ...
- 1,893
21
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Did the U.S. lose the war against the Taliban?
We know that the U.S. has a much stronger military than the Taliban, they could have deployed more troops in Afghanistan to beat the Taliban, but they consciously didn't. This makes me wonder, did U.S....
- 638
19
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Why does the "Tanks for Ukraine" discussion focus on the Leopard 2?
It may simply be my media bubble but it seems that the discussion on providing main battle tanks to the Ukraine focuses strongly, almost entirely, on the German Leopard 2. Why is that?
Now I ...
- 301
18
votes
6
answers
9k
views
Why is sending so few tanks to Ukraine considered significant?
It is reported that thousands of tanks are currently being used in the Ukraine War. To help Ukraine, Britain is sending 14 Challenger 2 tanks and America is sending a few (50) Bradley infantry ...
- 1
18
votes
4
answers
5k
views
What is the role of the U.S. Marines under contemporary joint warfare doctrine?
Is the U.S. Marine Corps, as a separate branch, largely a historical artifact, or does it fulfill a distinct purpose within the context of modern joint warfare doctrine?
Please note, this is not ...
- 305
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When may the President of the United States order military action without congressional approval?
The USA has many times in the past taken military action with only the President's order to back it up legally. It was Jefferson that set the precedent of using the military to enforce foreign policy ...
user2578
16
votes
10
answers
6k
views
Why are European countries increasing their defense budgets if they are members of a nuclear-armed NATO?
Mirror question to Why would Russia care about NATO troops on its borders if it has nuclear weapons?
Naively one would think that Russia should not worry about NATO because they have nuclear weapons. ...
- 35.9k
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How much is Russia spending on the war each day?
A former Russian politician, Illya Ponomarev, stated that the war costs Putin 20 billion dollars a day. This seems to be an exaggeration to me. Of course it is impossible to talk about precise figures,...
- 303
12
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Have the contents of the letters of last resort ever been revealed?
The letters of last resort are the letters written by the UK Prime Minister to the naval officers in command of the four nuclear submarines which provide the UK's nuclear deterrent, containing ...
CDJB♦
- 108k
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Based on the current/planned cost of the war, is Israel able to sustain the war in Gaza without extra aid from United States?
I wonder based on the current economic situation of Israel, if it could sustain the war against Hamas by itself without external aid.
It is reported that the United States committed over $3.3 billion ...
- 4,926
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When can "civilian, including commercial, infrastructure elements in outer space" be legitimate military targets?
The following quote of the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Konstantin Vorontsov found in Fox News' October 27, 2022 Russia threatens to target Western commercial satellites like Elon Musk's ...
- 17k
5
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Are Ukrainian civilians forced to fight against their will?
Multiple European newspapers stated that the Ukrainian government was doing everything in its power to allow the Ukrainian civilians to flee the country safely. I was under the impression that ...
- 193