The Deluge, the Paper Cup, and Washington’s Lack of Urgency on Guam

AI Summary

A former lieutenant governor of Guam warns that Washington is dangerously unprepared to defend Guam, a critical U.S. territory and military hub in the Second Island Chain, against growing threats from China and North Korea. Despite understanding among defense planners, the island remains poorly resourced and broadly misunderstood by the American public and policymakers. The author uses the metaphor of catching a deluge in a paper cup to illustrate the inadequacy of current efforts.

As I conclude nearly four decades of military and public service, including as lieutenant governor of Guam, a line from the 1986 Crowded House song “Don’t Dream It’s Over” keeps returning to me: “Trying to catch a deluge in a paper cup.”For Guam — a U.S. territory and cornerstone of American power projection increasingly under threat from both North Korea and China — that metaphor appears increasingly, and disturbingly, apt. Among U.S. defense planners and senior policymakers, the commitment to defend this central node in the Second Island Chain is well understood and rarely questioned. By contrast, Guam remains poorly understood by The post The Deluge, the Paper Cup, and Washington’s Lack of Urgency on Guam appeared first on War on the Rocks.