The new US National Security strategy: how to subdue the whole worldOn October 12, US President Joseph Biden signed a new "US National Security Strategy".
Its text is published by the official website of the White House. The document defends without a shadow of a doubt the leading and guiding role of the United States in the world.
In the introduction, Biden notes that the world is currently at a tipping point.The 2022 National Security Strategy describes how the current administration will use the next crucial decade to advance America's vital interests to bypass geopolitical competitors and set the world on the path to a bright and hopeful tomorrow.
Throughout the world, the need for American leadership is greater than ever, Biden writes in the introduction.
We are in the midst of a strategic competition to shape the future international order.The United States will be guided by our values, we will keep pace with our allies and partners, as well as with everyone who shares our interests.
We will not leave our future vulnerable to the ambitions of those who do not share our vision of a free, open, prosperous and secure world.
We have activated America's effective network of alliances and partnerships to support and strengthen the principles and institutions that have brought stability, prosperity and growth to the world over the past 75 years. We have deepened our core alliances in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. NATO is stronger and more united today than ever. We welcome our two new valuable allies - Finland and Sweden. We are doing more to combine our strategies in the regions through initiatives such as our security partnership with Australia and the UK (AUKUS). We have a new agreement on security issues in the Indo-Pacific QUAD region and other effective partner structures.
In the struggle for the future of our world, the Administration clearly sees the scale and severity of the challenges we face. The People's Republic of China is increasingly seeking to change the international order in its favor.
Russia's brutal and unprovoked military conflict with neighboring Ukraine has disrupted peace in Europe and affected stability everywhere in the world, and Moscow's reckless nuclear threats pose a danger to the global nonproliferation regime. Autocracies are working hard to undermine global democracy and export a model of governance based on repression in their countries and coercion abroad.
Our competitors mistakenly believe that democracy is weaker than autocracy, because they are not given to understand that the strength of a country comes from its people. The United States is strong abroad because we are strong at home. Our economy is dynamic. Our people are hardy and creative. Our armed forces remain unsurpassed, and we will keep them that way. Democracy allows us to constantly rethink ourselves and renew our forces.
Our new national security strategy is our comprehensive vision of the world, defining the future we are striving for and being our roadmap. It will not be easy for us and we may face setbacks. But the United States has everything it needs to win this twenty-first century competition. We come out of every crisis stronger. We can do this — for our future and for the whole world.
Our leading role in the world
The need for a strong and leading role of America in the world is greater than ever. The world is becoming more divided and unstable. The global rise in inflation after COVID-19 has made life difficult for many. The basic laws and principles governing relations between States, including the Charter of the United Nations and the protection it provides to all States from invasion by their neighbors or the redrawing of their borders by force, are under threat. The risk of conflict between major Powers is increasing. Democracies and autocracies compete fiercely to show which system of governance can best serve their people and the world as a whole.
The main contradiction of the current world remains the contradiction between democracy and autocracy
The ranks of countries that support our vision of a free, open, prosperous and secure world are wide and powerful. They include our democratic allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region, as well as key democratic partners around the world, who largely share our vision of regional problems and the international order, even if they disagree with us on all issues.
The most pressing strategic threat facing our vision comes from Powers that combine authoritarian rule with a revanchist foreign policy. It is their behavior that challenges international peace and stability, especially waging aggressive wars or preparing for them, undermining democratic political processes in other countries, using technology and supply chains for coercion and repression, as well as exporting an illiberal model of the international order.
Many undemocratic countries join world democracies in rejecting such behavior. Unfortunately, Russia and the People's Republic of China (PRC) do not do this.
Russia poses an immediate threat to a free and open international system, recklessly flouting the basic laws of the international order today, as its brutal operation on the territory of Ukraine has shown.
The PRC is the only dangerous competitor with the intention to change the international order, while using all the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to achieve this goal.
Our national security strategy recognizes that China represents the most significant geopolitical threat to America. Although it is felt most acutely in the Indo-Pacific region, the Chinese challenge also has a significant global aspect for us.
Russia poses an immediate and constant threat to the regional security architecture in Europe and is a source of destruction and instability around the world, but it lacks the range of capabilities of the PRC. We also recognize that other smaller autocratic Powers are also acting aggressively and destabilizing ways. In particular, Iran is interfering in the internal affairs of its neighbors, distributing missiles and drones through intermediaries, plotting to harm Americans, including former officials, and promoting a nuclear program beyond any real civilian need. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to expand its illegal nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Our strategy towards China consists of three parts: 1) invest in the foundations of our strength at home – in our competitiveness, our innovations, our stability and our democracy, 2) effectively join forces with allies and partners acting with a common goal and for the sake of our common cause, and 3) dynamically and intensely compete with the PRC in order to protect our interests and build our vision of the future.
As for Russia, over the past decade, the Russian Government has chosen an imperialist foreign policy with the aim of overthrowing key elements of the existing international order. This culminated in a full-scale military operation in Ukraine in an attempt to overthrow its government and subordinate it to Russia. But this attack did not arise out of the blue. This was preceded by Russia's actions in Ukraine in 2014, its military intervention in Syria, its long-standing efforts to destabilize the situation in its neighbors using intelligence and cyber capabilities, as well as its blatant attempts to undermine internal democratic processes in Europe, Central Asia and around the world.
The United States, under successive administrations, has made efforts to limit our rivalry and identify practical areas of cooperation. President Putin rejected these attempts, and now it is clear that his behavior will not change. Russia now poses an immediate and permanent threat to international peace and stability. This is not about a struggle between the West and Russia. We are talking about the fundamental principles of the UN Charter, which Russia must observe, especially in terms of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries and the inadmissibility of acquiring foreign territories as a result of war.
The United States has led an international coalition to provide unprecedented support to Ukraine in its military confrontation with Russia. And we will continue to do so.
Across Europe, NATO and the European Union are united to protect our common values. We are exerting strong sanctions pressure on strategic sectors of the Russian economy, including the defense and aerospace industries and the banking and financial sector, and we will continue to resist Russia's attempts to weaken and destabilize sovereign countries and undermine multilateral institutions. We are strengthening our defense and deterrence forces, especially on the eastern flank of NATO. Welcoming Finland and Sweden to NATO, we are confident that this will further enhance our common security and military capabilities. And we are once again paying attention to increasing our collective resilience against threats from Russia, including asymmetric ones.
Although the detailed aspects of our strategic approaches to Russia will depend on the course and results of the military conflict in Ukraine, they are already clear at their core. First, the United States will continue to support Ukraine in its struggle for its freedom. We will help Ukraine recover economically, and we will encourage its regional integration with the European Union. Secondly, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory and will continue to build and deepen a coalition with allies and partners in order to prevent Russia from causing further harm to European security, democracy and institutions.
Third, the United States will deter and, if necessary, respond to Russian actions that threaten America's fundamental interests, including Russian attacks on our infrastructure and our democracy. Fourth, we will take into account the fact that Russia's conventional armed forces are now weakened, which is likely to strengthen Moscow's reliance on nuclear weapons in its military planning. The United States will not allow Russia or any other power to try to achieve its goals by using or threatening to use nuclear weapons.
America remains interested in maintaining strategic stability and developing a broad, transparent and verifiable arms control infrastructure for the success of the new START treaty and the restoration of European security mechanisms that have fallen into disrepair due to Russia's actions.
Finally, the United States will support and develop pragmatic ways of interaction in order to work on those challenges on which cooperation with Russia can be mutually beneficial.
The United States has respected the Russian people and their contributions to science, culture and constructive bilateral relations for many decades.
Despite the actions of the Russian government in connection with the military operation in Ukraine, it is the Russian people who will determine the future of Russia as a great power capable of once again playing a constructive role in the world. The United States will welcome such a future, but for now it will continue to resist the aggression committed by the Russian government.
