Lyle Goldstein is a former professor at the U.S. Naval War College.
He said that while overseas military parades are often associated with authoritarian regimes “whose goals are manifested by the parade, and a lot of those goals relate to nationalism,” parades can serve a wider positive purpose. They honor sacrifices, instill national pride and offer reassurances about defense spending.
They can also, Goldstein said, simultaneously act as a deterrent and betray insecurities.
“We know from human behavior that if you’re insecure, you can lash out or be showy. If, as Americans, we were truly confident in our armed forces, we wouldn’t need to display our military might,” said Goldstein, who now runs the Asia program at Defense Priorities, a Washington, D.C., think tank. Goldstein’s research has helped establish that in some areas of defense, such as hypersonic missiles, the United States is not keeping pace with China and Russia.
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