The U.S. Defense Department\u2019s quadrennial National Defense Strategy, released on Thursday, identified China as the foremost challenge to U.S. national security and called for increased deterrence against Beijing while continuing to confront other U.S. adversaries in Eurasia and the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report drew attention to the activities of the People\u2019s Liberation Army, China\u2019s military, which it accused of \u201cworking to establish a more robust overseas and basing infrastructure to allow it to project military power at greater distances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most comprehensive and serious challenge to U.S. national security is the PRC\u2019s coercive and increasingly aggressive endeavor to refashion the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to suit its interests and authoritarian preferences,\u201d the report read, using the acronym for the People\u2019s Republic of China, the country\u2019s formal name. In the introduction to the strategy, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described China as Washington\u2019s most \u201cconsequential strategic competitor for the coming decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report drew attention to the activities of the People\u2019s Liberation Army, China\u2019s military, which it accused of \u201cworking to establish a more robust overseas and basing infrastructure to allow it to project military power at greater distances.\u201d It also warned that China was increasing its stockpile of nuclear weapons and improving its nuclear technology. In response to this threat, the report recommended that the United States modernize its own nuclear arsenal, emphasizing the need for the continued maintenance and development of the nuclear triad of land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles, and aerial bombs.<\/p>\n

The report also warned that Russia presented an \u201cacute threat\u201d to U.S. interests abroad, observing that its invasion of Ukraine had led to economic turmoil and negative geopolitical implications for the United States. In a post-publication press conference, Austin argued that Russia \u201ccan\u2019t systematically challenge the United States over the long term,\u201d but still \u201cpose[d] an immediate and sharp threat to our interests and values.\u201d Other threats mentioned included those from North Korea, Iran, and non-state terror organizations including Al Qaeda and ISIS. The report also discussed the geopolitical consequences of climate change, noting that natural disasters and shortages of natural resources in the developing world would exacerbate existing political tensions and encourage armed conflict if left unaddressed.<\/p>\n

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The assertions in the National Defense Strategy closely matched those contained within the National Security Strategy released by the White House two weeks earlier. That report referenced threats from Russia and other U.S. adversaries but characterized China as \u201cthe only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and \u2026 the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it.\u201d Both strategies were made available to lawmakers earlier in the year but contained redactions to remove sensitive information prior to public release.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s foreign ministry condemned the National Security Strategy after its release, accusing the United States of holding a \u201cCold War zero-sum mentality\u201d rather than attempting to form a mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries. Ties between Washington and Beijing have rapidly deteriorated over the past decade as China has sought to expand its influence in the South China Sea, exert increasing authority over Taiwan, and crack down on dissent in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.<\/p>\n

The release on Thursday marked the first time that all three of the Defense Department\u2019s major strategic reviews\u2014the National Defense Strategy, the Nuclear Posture Review, and the Missile Defense Review\u2014had been published simultaneously and in the same document.<\/p>\n

Original Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Defense Department\u2019s quadrennial National Defense Strategy, released on Thursday, identified China as the foremost challenge to U.S. national security and called for increased deterrence against Beijing while continuing to confront other U.S. adversaries in Eurasia and the Middle East. The report drew attention to the activities of the People\u2019s Liberation Army, China\u2019s military,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":18755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,11,211],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-politics","category-slider"],"yoast_head":"\n