WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – The USA wants to continue to be a permanent NATO ally and thus an ally of the Europeans, but sees the defense of its country and the surrounding regions as the priority. This emerges from the new national defense strategy of the administration of US President Donald Trump. It also emphasizes deterrence against China. An overview of important points:
Europe
The message to Europe is clear. Tenor: Your conventional defense is primarily your responsibility. The USA wants to continue to play a central role within NATO – even if it readjusts its presence in Europe. Allies should take the lead in Europe against threats that are more serious for them than for the US – “with decisive but limited support from the United States,” it says. In the past there have been repeated discussions about reducing the number of troops in Europe.
At the end of last year, the US Congress passed a law for a defense budget that, unlike the national security and defense strategy, is more in line with the traditional approach to previous defense priorities. With regard to the US troop presence in Europe, the law stipulates that the total number of forces permanently under the European Command area of responsibility cannot be less than 76,000 for more than 45 days. According to estimates, more than 80,000 US soldiers were currently stationed in Europe.
What is central for the USA, as is emphasized in the 34-page defense strategy, is that its allies implement the NATO agreement to massively increase defense spending. Under the impression of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and at Trump’s insistence, NATO agreed last June to invest at least 3.5 percent of the national GDP in defense in the future. An additional 1.5 percent should then be added for defense-related expenses, such as infrastructure.
USA and “Western Hemisphere”
In keeping with Trump’s motto “America First”, the USA’s defense focus should be on its own country. Borders should be secured and airspace protected by the “Golden Dome” missile defense system that Trump wants to build on Greenland. This plan already suggests that the USA is far from limiting its focus to its own national borders: “At the same time, we will actively and fearlessly defend America’s interests throughout the Western Hemisphere,” it says.
It will secure military and economic access to key areas, particularly the Panama Canal, Greenland and the Gulf of Mexico, which the Pentagon calls the Gulf of America. US military action against suspected drug smugglers also has priority.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth writes in the foreword to the strategy that it is neither the duty nor in America’s national interest to act alone worldwide or to take responsibility for “security policy failures by allies” that are the result of “irresponsible decisions” by their governments. “We will defend the homeland and ensure that our interests in the Western Hemisphere are protected.”
It was already clear from the security strategy that the main focus of the USA should be here in the future. This usually refers to the double continent of America and the surrounding islands. Trump recently reiterated his country’s claim to dominance on the American double continent several times.
China
The USA is pursuing a course that does not rely on direct confrontation with China. This was already shown by the meeting between the US President and China’s head of state Xi Jinping in South Korea at the end of October, where Trump emphasized his good relationship with Beijing and there were milder tones in the trade conflict.
At the same time, the US government makes it clear in its defense strategy that it wants to deter China in the Indo-Pacific through strength, not confrontation. We are talking about a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, which plays an important role for the USA as a trading area. The USA sees China as the second most powerful country in the world – after the United States. The description of China is sober and not aimed at escalation: they don’t want to dominate the country – but they don’t want to be dominated either. Beijing’s power is growing.
Russia
Unlike China, the US considers Russia to be a “manageable threat” to NATO’s eastern members. The USA sees the Europeans as having the main responsibility for supporting Ukrainian defense. The Russian war against Ukraine must end, but the main responsibility here also lies with the Europeans.
It is said that Moscow is not in a position to achieve dominance in Europe. It will be interesting to see how the Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin responded to it. The US emphasizes that European NATO members are more powerful than Russia. The German economy alone dwarfs the Russian one.
At the same time, the war in Ukraine shows that Russia has large military and industrial reserves, it goes on to say. Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
Defense strategy follows security strategy
At the beginning of December, the USA published its national security strategy, which was seen as a break by the US government with the tradition of close transatlantic cooperation. Previous strategies did not take into account core U.S. national interests and prioritized the defense of other countries at the expense of the U.S. population, the document said. Now “America First” applies.
The current political landscape in the EU was branded in the document as a threat to American interests. Specifically, alleged democratic deficits and restrictions on freedom of expression were criticized. The text did not contain any critical words for the Kremlin as an aggressor in the war against Ukraine.
Overall, the tone of the defense strategy sounds a bit more sober and factual – but the content is in the same direction. It follows a few days after Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which was peppered with hostility towards Europe./rin/DP/zb
