NEW YORK (GZERO MEDIA) - Talking about his new book 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, retired US Admiral James Stavridis says that his tale of the US losing military dominance in the world to China is a cautionary tale rather than a predictive one.
Speaking with American political scientist Ian Bremmer, Mr Stavridis says that the US military still enjoys military dominance on the global stage at the moment, but attention must be paid to the looming challenge from China.
Mr Stavridis contends that the present trajectory of developments, if unaddressed, will see the fictional events of his book becoming a reality or at the very least, define the balance of power between the two nations.
He attributes this primarily to China's government "spending very intelligently in their defence budgets", with a focus on developing technologies such as militarising outer space and quantum computing."
The discussion comes as Mr Biden has repeatedly identified competition with China as the greatest foreign policy challenge the country faces. Mr Biden's administration has also kept pace with the frequency with which his predecessor sent navy vessels to Asia. It has invested in the Quad as well - a security alliance with Japan, India and Australia - returning it to prominence.
During the interview, Mr Stavridis also highlights the Chinese strategy of focusing on research and development of both its people and its technology alongside further collaboration with Russia, a high-end military technical nation. Mr Stavridis sums up the overarching strategy by saying that China is "doing all the things I would do if I were in their position to increase their capability".
When asked by Mr Bremmer about the closest the two nations are with regard to military confrontation, Mr Stavridis notes that Taiwan is increasing a concern, citing US Indo-Pacific military commander Admiral Phil Davidson's testimony and how Mr Davidson's thinking syncs with his own.
This GZERO media video is being shown here as part of a media partnership agreement with The Straits Times.
