With all that has been going on this year, it can be stated that 2020 has not been the best year so far. From the Australian wild fires to the outbreak of Covid-19 it seems like humanity can’t catch a break. With all that going on, we are now seeing tensions building up between major and regional powers with the latest show of might between China and America looking to go nuclear.
To help show how this tension is building up around the globe, we can look at the recent increase of army drills that has been going on around the world whilst also looking at certain events that are increasing the tension between countries. One of these events is the recent occupation of Greek land by Turkish forces at their shared border. The Turkish army has done this in order to enable its large refugee/migrant groups to move in to Europe, out of their country and care/responsibility.
This event has triggered a build up of tension in the South East of Europe and at the same time North East Russia has been conducting military training and drills on their western borders to show off their strength; their official statement on the matter is that they are conducting training for their own country’s defenses to ensure that their armed services are capable of defending their borders. This has been seen differently across Europe with many experts believing that this is a show of strength by Russia to show that Covid has not weakened them and that they are still in a position of power.
It does not stop there; tensions are increasing as can be seen with other countries conducting their military drills and training exercises for example – China has been conducting multiple drills across their borders and South China sea. This has led to tension across Asia – mainly with India and the USA. However, the most worrying drills conducted by China has been with their nuclear drills where their navy and air force have been preparing/ training with the use of nuclear weapons.
This has been matched by the USA with their large army recruitment campaign and has seen them conducting their own nuclear drills to counter China’s exercises. The American armed services have been seen conducting drills on the West Coast and too in the South China sea. The official statement from the USA is that it is making sure that their armed services are ready to deal with any situation.
With all that going on, you may be worrying about another war with soldiers occupying another country’s land and that two super powers and preparing their nuclear arsenals but I would say not to worry too much as most experts on the matter have stated this was predictable given that Covid-19 is damaging many countries and their economies. Many countries will use drills and recruitment drives to show other powers around the world that they are still strong. This is mainly countries acting in their own interest to keep the status quo showing that Covid-19 has not done any damage to their military capabilities.
As for Turkey – they will most likely seek to sort out their differences through diplomatic channels between themselves and the European Union.
Sources
https://rusi.org/commentary/not-%E2%80%98spirit-wuhan%E2%80%99-skirmishes-between-india-and-china
https://www.thetrumpet.com/22386-nationalist-fever-amplifies-calls-for-chinese-invasion-of-taiwan
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/China-presses-on-with-defense-buildup-as-US-tensions-grow
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