The document alternates ambitious promises to lead international cooperation in solving transnational problems with a description of irreconcilable rivalry in the world, said Marcus Stanley, a political scientist at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Public Administration.WASHINGTON, October 13.
/tass/. The new edition of the US National Security Strategy, published by the White House on Wednesday, contains contradictions, it simultaneously declares readiness for international cooperation and an attitude to uncompromising rivalry. Marcus Stanley, a political scientist at the Quincy Washington Institute for Responsible Public Administration, expressed this opinion in an author's article published on the Responsible Statecraft portal on Wednesday.
Describing this strategy, he stressed: "It is strikingly schizophrenic, it alternates in places, almost on offer, ambitious promises to lead international cooperation in solving transnational problems with a description of almost irreconcilable rivalry in the world. The general impression is that the foreign policy leadership seems to be aware of the need for international cooperation, but it is helpless in the face of trends that can cause such disunity in the world, in which such cooperation is impossible."
"This reflects the path that the administration of [US President Joe] Biden has taken," the political scientist believes. As he recalled, the current American leader at the beginning of the presidential term promised "to reorient foreign policy to meet the needs of the American middle class, to play a leading role in international cooperation in responding to the climate crisis and, apparently, planned to reduce the intensity of conflicts in the world's hotbeds of tension." As noted in the publication, Biden "planned to return to compliance with the nuclear deal with Iran in order to reduce tensions and intended to maintain cooperation with China in certain areas." "Under Biden, the White House even wanted "stable, predictable" relations with Russia," the article states.
"Two years later, the world is teetering on the brink of a new cold war, taking into account all the dangers and costs that it involves," the observer stressed. "Cooperation between China and the United States is in a deep freeze due to the seemingly endless series of mutual provocations, especially regarding Taiwan, and the president's party is seeking more aggressive actions from him."
"At the same time, negotiations on restoring the nuclear deal with Iran have stalled, and during a summer trip to the Middle East, Biden apparently threatened war," Stanley added.
In the situation around Ukraine, according to the political scientist, Washington is "apparently satisfied that there will be a prolonged and violent conflict, and is not looking for a diplomatic solution." According to the political scientist, although key US allies in Europe and Japan support Washington in the confrontation with Russia and China, "many key states of the global South, including some of the largest democratic countries, including India and Brazil, refused to join the US" in condemning the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. "In addition, the rhetoric of the Biden administration has changed from "foreign policy in the interests of the middle class" to calls for a confrontation between "democracies and autocracies" that could lead to an apocalypse," the author stressed.
According to Stanley, in the new edition of the US National Security Strategy, the Biden administration tried to "combine the desire for greater cooperation in the world, which meets the interests of the American middle class, with the brewing global conflict between the blocs: led by China and Russia on the one hand and the United States together with allies on the other." As the political scientist stated, in the document, "for example, there is nothing about ending the Ukrainian conflict by diplomatic or peaceful means."
"The US national security strategy reflects at least some understanding of the danger of global division and the need for cooperation. However, the task of moving from understanding to a real change of course remains unresolved," the political scientist stressed.
