Suggest perhap swapping out sovereignty for liberty in the end of paragraph 3, as it seems closer to whats being discussed, or clarify the meaning of liberty as its used.
Overall a good paper, though it sound to skirt more around sub arguments as opposed to explain what they will be, and sentences such as The US, China, Germany, and Japan are custodians for peace could use more backing and explanation, as how they are custodians for peace isnt stated or hinted at, but rather the claim itself seems to be that these are just examples of countries with strong militaries. Second to last paragraph sound to make the same talking points as the second, so that could be addressed.
Very good use of sources throughout the paper, and outside of minor grammatical errors it is very well written. Bring similar ideas together and provide more explanation beyond strength makes peace, solid starting point but begins to run in circles. Would also recommend explaining the tie in of liberty and rights, as they seem to get dropped in without much explanation or definition as to what specifically is being discussed.
Analyzing the study of war preparedness through the lens of peace is an extremely interesting topic, that I think is a great idea for a proposal for the purpose of this project. Along with Vegetius theory that you chose to focus on, I think theres potential to connect the themes to peace studies as mentioned within class and our textbook, too. Such as clarifying other important elements, like would the use of a mediator or third party change or affect the likelihood of neutral ground/ peace, without warfare? Or how your lens of peace studies can also tie into realism (or how it ties into realism), since the notion of power and military capability is of the essence in this proposal. Also because you mention the concept of fear and being watchful of other nations and their military capabilities, which perpetuates the very realist idea of putting state power ahead of the needs of anything else, in your case, the ultimate ‘goal’ of peace between the U.S and China. While you briefly mentioned it, you can also expand on how the free trade market heavily plays a role within the relationship between the two countries, maybe more than militarism since China is our biggest trade partner, and how warfare may or not be affected/obsolete due to globalization and interdependency. Overall, I think you have a wonderful idea to get started with- my biggest suggestion would be to clarify the theory you are choosing to focus on since its vaguely referenced to.
