TIME TO CANCELL $400 BILLION AUKUS SUBS !!!, page-120

"Because, in the future, as the balance between the USA & China gets closer and closer, the Yanks will only come to the defence of close allies.". ... unless of course Trump wins the election.... then its every country for itself ahahheha.

alliance are only as good as the willingness of the allied countries to come to each others' aid in the event that defence is required against an aggressor.

for all my lack of knowledge on China/US relations, I seriously doubt China will, or even intends, to invade any other country. they've shown repeatedly that they prefer commercial invasion to military, except as @moondoong pointed out, the country is obscured by distance and general knowledge of the country being invaded, eg Tibet. similar to Russia.

I also discredit nukes with the power of mutually assured destruction because belligerent leaders, such as Putin, won't give a damn about their own destruction, and other leaders, less concerned with being a Big Swinging' Phallus, will be more concerned about their own populace which would likely be harmed by nuclear fall out.

but my question you cited was simply rhetorical. I believe we do need a military..... but I would like to see them more active in national emergencies.