When you stop to think why every major nation in the world today spends tens to hundreds of billions of dollars on military spending each and every year, it should be clear that it is.

We have all grown up in an era of unprecedented peace, and I think it's easy to take that peace for granted. But that would be unwise. When you look at history since time immemorial people constantly have disagreements on the right path forward. And the group that decides which path is taken is the most powerful group - which is often decided by force. I see no reason to believe that this has changed. But the peace? What has changed is that we've created an international stalemate thanks to nukes. Mutually assured destruction makes military enforcement of will a nonstarter.

Consider the very recent comments made by USAF General Kwast a few days ago [1]. He is not concerned about China militarizing space - that is taken as a granted. He is concerned about the militarizing space before we do. In his words: "Militaries will soon work more extensively in the space between the earth and moon. That realm is the next high ground, where nations are straining to gain a strategic advantage." It's not even a question of if there will be another great conflict but rather when will it be. Whenever it is, it's likely that this conflict -like so many before- will be decided not by man, but by the technology of man.

[1] - https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/10/usaf-general-steve-kwast-chi...

Yes, it is, in an economy where exports are a huge part of the economy. Fall behind and you're competing with Bangadesh for the T-shirt business.

Thats not how any of it works. If china came out with a 1 dollar iphone X2, both americans and chinese would be much richer.

Imagine if it was a race. Say, a matter of national security, national pride, etc.

India vs China vs Japan vs the United States vs ...

Trillions of dollars invested into research.

Yes, and there are many researchers outside of companies, that publish in the open. The field will not be locked up to the first arrival.

Sure it is. The human race :)