Donald Trump’s latest security strategy has explained that United States wants to have a more intimate engagement with regional democracies like Australia in the face of Chinese ambition. Trump warns that China is seeking to “displace” the US in the Indo-Pacific region.
The latest security strategy for national security announced that China’s ambitions were to “reorder” the Indo-Pacific region in its favour, to the detriment of surrounding nations.
This new strategy report is quite critical of Russia as well, including what it refers to as the “rouge states” of North Korea and Iran. The report promoted the idea that the economic prosperity of the United States combined with strong regional border is what holds up the pillars of national security.
The document put a large emphasis on the continued expansion of United States jobs combined with tax reforms and a growth in infrastructure development.
In a speech announcing this new strategy, President Trump stated that if the US does not protect its domestic prosperity it cannot begin to adequately protect its overseas interests. He went on the say that “America is coming back strong” and that the nation has moved quickly to confront the challenges it faces.
Trump also stated that the new strategy was designed to acknowledge a new age of economic competition between the US, China and Russia amongst other powers, reaffirming that the USA was going to win.
Trump stated that the United States would create “peace through strength”, promising a strong defensive presence in the Indo-Pacific region. This plan included a modernisation of the US military.
The document is highly critical of both Russia and China, claiming that they are using bully tactics to re-shape the region to be antithetical to US interests. It stated that both nations were determined to make the region’s economies “less free and less fair” so that their dominance over the area could grow.
This criticism of Russia comes mere days after a successful cooperation between US and Russian intelligence agencies to combat a terrorist threat.
The strategy report is highly critical of Chinese expansion in the region, as well as the maintaining of unfair trade deals with the United States.
The document cites China’s action in the South China Sea as being an attempt to diminish the freedom of other countries in the region. It went on to say that increase cooperation with close allies like Australia would prove very important in this regard.
The report was quick to praise Australia as a valued ally who had fought alongside the United States in all major conflicts since the First World War. It said that Australia was crucial to safeguarding the interests of democracy in the Indo-Pacific region.
Certainly Australia’s recent rows with China over foreign interference in politics have highlighted the need to strengthen relations with the historic ally of the United States.
Unlike strategy documents from the previous administration of Barrack Obama, global warming is not listed as a national security threat. The document does however say that the United States is prepared to use “overwhelming force” to pacify North Korea if necessary.