War is at hand, preferably cold but potentially hot.

The guardrails for peace established after WWII and the Cold War have deteriorated.

The incidents of real and potential conflict have burgeoned – Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and its growing war economy, China’s preparations to invade Taiwan and its surging military capacity, the never-ending conflagrations in the Middle East, the state-backed hacks of U.S. military (and civilian) infrastructure, and so on.

Our major enemies see us as weakened. And our commitments have over-extended our capacity.

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the lead Republican on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, has sounded the alarm.

Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, Wicker told the Associated Press, “nobody took a chance against the United States because we were powerful enough to keep the peace. We are simply not anywhere near that right now.”

Wicker last week called for an extra $55 billion in military spending (on top of the $844 billion currently programmed) to begin a multi-year expansion of U.S. might, a “generational investment” he described it. He said such a long-term and robust increase is essential to deter growing threats from Russia, Iran, and China.

This followed a NY Times article that noted, “the Pentagon is rushing to expand its capacity to wage war in space.” Again citing growing threats from Russian and China, the article cited the need for a more “extensive capacity to fight battles in space” to protect U.S. satellites and ground-based military assets. Both countries have developed systems that can attack U.S. space assets, the article said.

“The concern has only escalated with reports that Russia may be developing a space-based nuclear weapon that could broadly wipe out satellites in orbit, both commercial and military,” the Times reported. “Russia’s use of electronic jamming tools during the war in Ukraine – which have at times disrupted advanced American weapons systems – is cited by Pentagon officials as another reason the United States must intensify its defenses in space.”

Wicker’s full military expansion plan is set forth in a 52-page paper he said he worked on over the past year. In it he “urges a national war footing appropriate for a long, drawn-out conflict with a major world power,” reported the Associated Press.

“I think that the fact that we’re in a new Cold War is self-evident,” Wicker said, calling this “the most dangerous threat environment since World War II.” An Axios.com analysis feared this “tinderbox moment” may “turn hot.”

Over time Wicker’s plan would increase military spending to 5% of GDP, up from the current 3%.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.