the us can 'ill afford' another war now its rivals are teaming up so well, us general says the us can "ill afford" another war if conflict breaks out in east asia, gen. charles flynn warned. from the middle east to russia, authoritarian regimes are challenging us power. some experts believe the us military is overstretched. the us army's outgoing top commander in the pacific region has warned that the us can "ill afford" another war because its military is vastly overstretched. according to defense one, gen. charles flynn said that the us' authoritarian rivals  russia, china, iran, and north korea  had been placing increasing pressure on american military resources. speaking at the ausa conference in washington dc last week, flynn described the technology and military alliances between the authoritarian states as a "very dangerous combination." collaboration between these countries has stepped up. russia has received shahed drones from iran, which it has used to attack ukrainian cities. it has also received diplomatic and economic backing from china, while north korea has sent rockets and troops. russia's returned the favor to iran, helping it evade sanctions and to arm iranian proxies hezbollah and the houthis. in east asia, russia recently formed a military pact with north korea, and has engaged in massive military drills alongside china as it menaces taiwan with invasion. "there's a limited regional war going on in europe," flynn said. "there's a limited regional war going on in the middle east. we can ill afford another limited regional war in asia. why? because it will be a global problem for all of us." if war erupts between the us and china it could have devastating global economic consequences. bloomberg economics in january estimated that a war could cost up to $10 trillion, which is around 10% of global gdp. the economic observatory in march found that a broader conflict in the middle east would spike oil prices and inflation
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