Former NATO Supreme Commander Adm. James Stavridis believes Americans should remain optimistic about the state of global affairs, despite the "concerning situations" involving adversaries Russia and China.
"There is nothing we cannot overcome as Americans," Stavridis told "The Cats Roundtable" on Sunday, a nationally syndicated radio show.
"We just have to pull together as Americans," Stavridis continued. "We've got political divisions in the country. We need to pull together. If we do, we can overcome all of these challenges."
"It's perfectly understandable that people open up a newspaper, turn on the television, and they see very concerning situations," Stavridis added. "The war in Ukraine; China on the march in the South China Sea, Iran and North Korea. ... It's very concerning."
Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine — which began on Feb. 24, 2022 — hasn't shown any outward signs of reaching a cease-fire or even slowing down.
As two examples, Russia recently launched a counteroffensive in eastern Ukraine, sending in tens of thousands of new recruits.
And the U.S. and its Western allies have supplied Kyiv with billions of dollars' worth of financial, logistical, medical, and military aid — including several American-made Abrams tanks and German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
Last May, Stavridis condemned the Russians for showing "amazing incompetence" with their strategic initiatives against the Ukraine, while also providing a watershed occurrence for the NATO nations to band together.
"In modern history, there is no situation comparable in terms of the deaths of generals," Stavridis told the show again. "The United States, in all of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, not a single general lost in actual combat.
"Here, on the Russian side, in a two-month period, we've seen at least a dozen, if not more, Russian generals killed," added Stavridis.
Also, relations between China and the U.S. have seemingly been strained throughout President Joe Biden's tenure in the White House — whether it involves Beijing threatening Taiwan, as part of its effort to expand control in the South China Sea, or the suspected Chinese spy balloon incident from last month, which raised new questions about U.S. national security.
Stavridis characterized a number of incidents as "tactical flashpoints" for the U.S., regarding how it's monitoring the actions of China and Russia.
"I think strategically, the long throw of history is marching along toward a more integrated global economy, toward cooperation," Stavridis told roundtable host John Catsimatidis.
"And certainly, we will see competition from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, but they don't have the global economic weight to really disrupt the world," added Stavridis.
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