Ash Wyllie wrote:

Very true. Our best hope is that a middle class democratic revolution occurs
and then behaves in a much less aggrexive manner.

Actually, there is one slightly better hope. Every country that has carrier
capacity today developed it over a period of 70 years or more. Many people
looking at the Russian experience have theorized that that may be the only way
to develop a workable aircraft carrier force. It may well be impossible to start
off with any relatively modern carrier -- it's just too complicated and requires
a large, experienced crew.

The crewmembers in our navy have built upon generations of handed down and
modified experience. The Chinese may well require generations to catch up.
Without carriers, aggressive overseas action is pretty much impossible.

It should be noted, however, that some other people feel that the Russian
failure to make a go of their carrier was based on the fact that they were not
interested in aggressive action in any area their army couldn't reach.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.