Footage from a civilian living in Khartoum captures the moment a random artillery shell impacts with the ground right in front of a pair of civilians who were walking. The full context of this video is unknown, but it's a moment of random and sudden violence that just stands out in the sea of violence that the world is seeing today.

It's pretty easy to take life in the United States for granted sometimes. Very few wars have happened in our country, and to date we've been entirely untouched by modern warfare because of a thing known as American Hegemony. If you're unsure of what that means, a quick Google search will give you all of the answers you need, but the TL;DR is that the United States projects power so far and in such a vast amount that most countries could never hope to start a shooting war with us because we could invade them in their home country in a matter of hours.

This safety net, and the logistical difficulty of fighting a war in the United States, has kept us safe from a world like this for almost a century now, with the last attack on our country from a Nation-State occurring by Japanese forces in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska during World War 2. Currently, the only way to successfully attack the United States is through random and sporadic acts of terrorism. Think 9/11, the Boston Marathon Bombing, or the Pulse Nightclub Shooting in 2016. We live this relatively secure lifestyle because of one thing, and one thing only, and that is the power projection of the United States Military around the world.

Without that power projection, and our own preemptive actions and posturing to let other nations know that we're ready to respond swiftly and decisively, the United States becomes more susceptible to attacks from conventional military forces. At the core of this power projection is the United States Navy, which requested the decommissioning of 39 warships in 2023 while only adding 9 new warships to their operating fleet. It's essential to note that this decline in naval power is occurring simultaneously with a recruiting crisis within the United States Military, while our adversaries on the world stage are growing bolder in taking military actions within their sphere of influence without fearing reprisals from the EU or the United States.

Basically, we live in a very fragile world. You haven't seen a single American recording an artillery strike landing on their block in Detroit, Michigan or Washington D.C. because American Hegemony keeps our enemies rooted in place unable to act without the fear of an immediate and deadly response from the world's only true military super power. Unfortunately, the average American's confidence in the United States Military is waning due to poor senior leadership, poorly spent and managed budgets, and the failures caused in Operation Enduring Freedom by the two previously mentioned items. This, in turn, emboldens our adversaries and allows them to take actions they otherwise never would have considered. It also raises doubt in our allies, who heavily rely on U.S. forces for their own safety and security.

Does this mean that we'll see an attack on the United States in the immediate future from a near-peer foe like China or Russia? Probably not. Does it increase the likelihood of another global war breaking out in both Europe and the Pacific? Yes. Does it also increase the likelihood we'll see future terror attacks in the lower 48 of the United States caused by emboldened Islamic Extremists backed by countries like Iran? Most definitely it does. Could that lead to an eventual collapse of the world we live in today? It's a definite possibility.

I don't like to fear monger with my writing. Some in the comments may disagree, and that's fine. I'm thankful that we live in a world where random artillery shells impacting street corners and interrupting my afternoon jog isn't a regular occurrence. I'm thankful that I live in a nation where I can write whatever the hell I want in our blog, and you guys can read it and respond however you want without fear. In order to be thankful for that, I have to first understand that we have peace here because brush-fire conflicts like the one in Sudan and small scale wars (relatively speaking compared to a global war) like the one in Ukraine are isolated to their specific regions because our adversaries still fear what the United States can and will do in response to an escalation.

I hope it stays that way for another thousand years, and along the way we can return to a better state of global security as a result. To the six of you who actually read this, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com