WASHINGTON: The US military has put countering China and Russia at thecenter of a new national defense strategy unveiled on Friday, the latestsign of shifting priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusingon the fight against Islamist militants.
Apparently it seems that US may focus shift from Muslims and Islamicmilitants to rising powers of China and Russia.
In presenting the new strategy, which will set priorities for the Pentagonfor years to come, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called China and Russia“revisionist powers” that “seek to create a world consistent with theirauthoritarian models.”
The “National Defense Strategy” represents the latest sign of hardeningresolve by President Donald Trump’s administration to address challengesfrom Russia and China, at the same time he is pushing for improved tieswith Moscow and Beijing to rein in a nuclear North Korea.
“We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we areengaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now theprimary focus of U.S. national security,” Mattis said in a speechpresenting the strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014.
It sets priorities for the U.S. Defense Department that are expected to bereflected in future defense spending requests. The Pentagon on Fridayreleased an unclassified, 11-page version of the document, which did notprovide details on how the shift towards countering China and Russia wouldbe carried out.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter ata news conference at the United Nations, said the United States was using aconfrontational approach.
“It is regrettable that instead of having a normal dialogue, instead ofusing the basis of international law, the U.S. is striving to prove theirleadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts,” Lavrovsaid.
“We’re open for dialogue, we’re prepared to discuss military doctrines,” headded.
China’s U.S. embassy criticized the strategy, saying Beijing sought “globalpartnership, not global dominance.”
“If some people look at the world through a cold war, zero-sum gamemindset, then they are destined to see only conflict and confrontation,” anembassy spokesman said in a statement.
Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy andforce development, said at a briefing with reporters that Russia was farmore brazen than China in its use of military power.
Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 and intervenedmilitarily in Syria to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Still, Moscow was limited by its economic resources, Colby said.
China, on the other hand, was described as economically and militarilyascendant. China has embarked on a far-reaching military modernization thatColby said was in “deep contravention to our interests.”
Experts praised the document’s targeting of the largest national securitythreats rather than the longer lists of risks in some previous strategies.But without knowing the budget commitments, it was difficult to assess ifit was a sound strategy.
“If we don’t actually see where the money is, you know, there is the dangerthat it could become all words,” said Mara Karlin, a fellow at theBrookings Institution think tank and a senior defense official in the Obamaadministration.
SUPPORT FOR ALLIANCES
The document also listed North Korea among the Pentagon’s priorities,citing the need to focus US missile defenses against the threat fromPyongyang, which beyond its nuclear weapons has also amassed an arsenal ofbiological, chemical, and conventional arms.
The document said that international alliances would be critical for theU.S. military, by far the world’s best-resourced. But it also stressed aneed for burden-sharing, an apparent nod to Trump’s public criticism ofallies who he says unfairly take advantage of US security guarantees.
Trump has called the NATO alliance “obsolete”, but Mattis said the UnitedStates would strengthen its traditional alliances while building newpartnerships and listening more to other nations’ ideas.
“We will be willing to be persuaded by them, recognizing that not all goodideas come from the country with the most aircraft carriers,” Mattis said.
The Pentagon is also working on a policy document on the country’s nucleararsenal. While Mattis did not specifically address that review, he said thepriority is deterrence.
“How do we maintain a safe and effective nuclear deterrence so thoseweapons are never used? It is a nuclear deterrent, it is not a war fightingcapability unless it is the worst day in our nation or the world’shistory,” Mattis said.
Mattis had harsh words for the U.S. Congress and its inability to reachagreement on budgets.
The U.S. military’s competitive edge has eroded “in every domain ofwarfare” he said, partly because of inconsistent funding. A bill to fundthe government only through Feb. 16, approved on Thursday night by theHouse of Representatives, appeared on the verge of collapse in the Senate.
“As hard as the last 16 years of war have been, no enemy in the field hasdone more to harm the readiness of the US military than the combinedimpact” of spending caps and short-term funding.
In sheer spending terms, the United States’ military outlay per year isstill far more than China and Russia. The United States is spending $587.8billion per year on its military, China $161.7 billion and Russia $44.6billion.