Letter to the editor: A Sputnik moment?

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently called China’s apparent test of a hypersonic weapon (China denies the allegation) “very close” to a “Sputnik moment.” Milley was referring to the Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957, which created hysteria over Russia’s apparent lead in the “space race.”

Meanwhile, Joe Biden, in response to the same incident, said “the world knows we’re the most powerful military in the history of the world.” So are we falling behind or not?

The same situation was true in 1957. Sputnik was something of a shock, but the Soviet Union was well behind the U.S. militarily. But the perception that the U.S. was falling behind the Soviet Union was powerful. It led to massively increased military spending to combat the perceived Russian “threat” all the way through the collapse of the Soviet Union, and — tellingly — into the present day.

Now, apparently we’re the most powerful military in the world — and at the same time falling behind China militarily. So is this a “Sputnik moment”? Clearly, yes. But the real question is our response. Do we again redouble the military spending to “keep up” with another perceived threat, or do we try something else?

Conor Demers

Penn Hills