Civil preparedness would also be required. Civil defence and national mobilisation would be intrinsic to any war effort. If the possibility of war in the Indo-Pacific is to be taken seriously, relevant preparations should be made urgently, but also proportionately and soberly. In war, the most important question is whether the nation at large has the structures, capabilities and, above all, the mindset and national will that are required to fight and keep fighting; and to absorb, recover, endure, and prevail. These cannot be put in place or engendered on the eve of the storm.
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