The U. S. military has put countering China and Russia at the heart of a new national defence strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting American priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.
WASHINGTON: The U. S. military has put countering China and Russia at the heart of a new national defence strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting American priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.
The strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014, sets priorities for the U. S. Defense Department that are expected to be reflected in future defence spending requests. The Pentagon released an unclassified, 11-page version of the document on Friday.
The so-called «National Defense Strategy» represents the latest sign of hardening resolve by President Donald Trump’s administration to address challenges from Russia and China, despite Trump’s calls for improved ties with Moscow and Beijing.
«We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models,» Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a speech presenting the document.
Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development, said at a briefing with reporters that Russia was far more brazen than China in its use of military power.
Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 and intervened militarily in Syria to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
