The Trigger

About the Book

 Introduction for “The Trigger”

by Dr. Tim Dosemagen

For decades, even the not so prescient had predicted the inevitability of a clash between the rising power that was China, and the undisputed reigning champion of the 20^th Century, the United States.

But nobody expects World Wars, and certainly, nobody would have predicted this fight. The Americans still thought like champions. In the back of the typical American’s mind, East-Asia was the weakest division in the league, at least militarily. How things had changed. From a post-World War Two high tide, with American power and influence following on the magical drawing forces of the implosion of the Imperial Japanese Empire, the Chinese Civil War, and the failures of the European Powers to re-establish former colonies throughout the region, the tides of history were due to turn, and slowly, they did.

Militarily, the disastrous Vietnam capitulation permanently removed U.S. forces from the Southeast-Asian mainland. Then, Taiwan completely weaned herself from direct U.S. foreign aid, repossessing its U.S. bases, bidding American forces a final farewell. On the Japanese archipelago, Okinawa was returned to Japan by the United States, as the oyabun-koyabun (older-younger brother) relationship between these two former enemies grew less one-sided, and at American urging, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces once again returned to the business of power projection, as befits the world’s second strongest economy. Finally, humbled by the force of nature itself, U.S. forces withdrew from The Philippines with a salute from an angry Mt. Pinatubo. The powerful post-World War II U.S. Navy, even briefly rebuilt during the Reagan years, was a 200 ship shadow of its former self. South Korea, with its 30,000 U.S. troops, and Japan, with its significant U.S. Navy bases, were all that remained of the vast former 20^th Century East Asian holdings of the U.S. military.

Economically, from the Korean Armistice in the mid-1950s, to the year 2010, East-Asia witnessed the rise of the world’s number two economy in Japan, its number three economy in China, its 11^th largest economy in South Korea, and the major colonies of the region, the formerly Dutch Taiwan, East-Asia’s Boardwalk, with the world’s largest holdings of cash reserves, and the British Park Place of the region, and Trojan Horse of Chinese political reform, Hong Kong. In just half a century, the combined economies of the region, benefiting from international trade and American investment, grew to roughly equal the world’s largest economy, all the while investing in U.S. issued debt, amassing wealth.

At the end of World War Two, East Asia sorely needed the U.S.; by 2010, the U.S. could not survive as a major power without East Asia.  In The Trigger, Dr. Tim Dosemagen poses the scenario of what might happen if a rising China wanted to move the pace of change along too quickly.

About the Author

Born and reared in Kenosha Wisconsin, Dr. Tim Dosemagen resides with his family in Southern Arizona. Dr. Dosemagen served in the United States Air Force for 7 years during the Carter and Reagan Administrations as a Cryptologic Analyst, reporting to the National Security Agency. During his 3 years of gathering intelligence in the Republic of Korea, China launched its first submarine launched ballistic missile, while suffering several significant pilot and aircraft defections. Dosemagen was decorated with the Air Force Achievement Medal (1985), the Air Force Commendation Medal (1986), and received the Joint Service Achievement Medal for “…preparing for publication a substantive report of immense benefit within the intelligence community…” conferred in the city of Washington, by Lt. Gen William Odom, DIRNSA, on April 6^th, 1987.

After completing full-time government service in 1987, Dosemagen briefly instructed Chinese Mandarin in the Kenosha Unified School District, before joining the professional service of the Boy Scouts of America where he worked for 11 years, finishing as Director of Field Service with the Northeast Illinois Council, based in Highland Park, Illinois. His service area extended from the northern suburbs of Chicago to southeastern Wisconsin, and he served over 18,000 youngsters and 4,000 adult volunteers in 375 local Scout groups.

Dosemagen briefly served as La Leche League International’s Director of Operations, and then as Director of Marketing and Funding for the IEF Education Foundation, a California-based organization dedicated to bridging the gap between U.S. educational opportunities and students from China, Taiwan, Korea and East Asia. IEF has offices in Taipei, Taiwan, Washington, D.C. and Shanghai, China. He then served as a consultant to Central Michigan University’s innovative College of Distance and Distributed Learning, and then continued his consultancy with the Bright China Management Institute in Beijing. He served as Executive Director, ABC Child Development, Inc., a $14,000,000 human service agency with a staff of 256 located in El Monte, California. Presently, Dosemagen serves as Director of Academic Affairs with the University of Phoenix’s Southern Arizona Campus, and instructs 11 courses in the Graduate School of Business and Management, the Undergraduate School of Business and Management, and the University College, instructing coursework in management, leadership, organizational behavior, international education, critical thinking, employment law and effective written communications.

In addition to his B.A. in Asian Studies (University of Maryland, 1987),  Dosemagen holds a Masters in Human Services (Murray State University, 1996),  and received his Doctorate in Education – Management of Programs (Nova  Southeastern University, 2000).

A Paul Harris Fellow and long time Rotarian, Dosemagen is also a Vigil Honor Member of the Order of the Arrow, an Eagle Scout, an American Legionnaire, was honored by the American Inn of Court of Northern Illinois with its 2000 Distinguished Service Award, serves on the Executive Board of the Tucson, Arizona Council, Boy Scouts of America, and on the Sahuarita School District’s Growth and Planning Task Force.

In the spring of 2002, Dosemagen lectured to Chinese educational community consumers in Shanghai and Nanjin