Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Great power boats

There’s a new Chinese sheriff off the east coast of Africa, and that is beginning to worry some Indians. The recent Chinese decision to deploy destroyers against Somali pirates "marks the beginning of a major shift in the Indian Ocean balance of power," editorializes the Indian Express. "Beijing is at once showcasing a blue water ...

There's a new Chinese sheriff off the east coast of Africa, and that is beginning to worry some Indians.

There’s a new Chinese sheriff off the east coast of Africa, and that is beginning to worry some Indians.

The recent Chinese decision to deploy destroyers against Somali pirates "marks the beginning of a major shift in the Indian Ocean balance of power," editorializes the Indian Express. "Beijing is at once showcasing a blue water navy that it has so assiduously built and signalling a new political will to use military force far beyond its shores. This, in turn, is bound to constrict India’s own freedom of naval action in the Indian Ocean."

You want to see how great powers operate? Watch this one. China is making a statement, and it is being heard. I suspect the United States has many more options at its fingertips. The question is whether it cares to raise any. If we weren’t tied down so much in Iraq, we’d have more freedom of maneuver to deal with situations like this.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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