In short, Russian leaders hope to control or eliminate many elements of U.S. military power in exchange for strategic force reductions they will have to make anyway.

WSJ: Arms Control Amnesia

America's pivot to the Pacific reflects a growing strategic concern over China's rise as a military power, amid simmering disputes over Taiwan and contested islands in the south and east China seas.

NPR: Military Weighs Cutbacks, Shifts In Drone Programs

The war would probably drag on, robbing President Thein Sein of the peaceful new start he is promising his country, entrenching the power of the military in this strategic border area, and unnerving China, which sees Kachin state as a vital trade and energy corridor.

BBC: Kachin rebels defiant on Burma's northern front line

It is a belief that is deeply held by the US military, who were among the first advocates of strategic air power.

BBC: Analysis: US 'shock and awe' tactic

White starts by pointing out that Asia has lived under and benefited for some sixty years from a unchallenged and unchangeable U.S. strategic military and geopolitical primacy, based primarily on naval, nuclear, and air power.

FORBES: U.S.-Japan Security Alliance Is Obsolete Leaving Japan Caught between China and the U.S. in a New Asian Order

Such developments combined with the direct and indirect adverse effects of the prevailing arms control regime since 1972, including repeated violations of that regime by the Soviet Union have transformed Soviet military power and increasingly call into question the adequacy of the U.S. strategic deterrent.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | An Assessment Of Future Requirements For US Strategic Forces And Strategic Arms Control

The third reason why Kaplan views Israel as a strategic liability to the US in this new era of "realism" is because it is no longer a strong military power.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Israel and the 'realists'