Biden Administration’s Strategy for National Security: All Geopolitics and Climate Change
March 6 , 2021 (EIRNS)—Geopolitics and the “climate crisis” permeate every component of the “Interim National Security Strategic Guidance,” the 24-page strategic document released by the White House on March 3, making the passionate language within the document about economic and other measures to improve the welfare of the American people so much double talk.
On the geopolitical side, the document clearly shows that this administration’s intent is to gather the world’s “democracies” into an alliance against Russia and China and their “malign” influence on the world. Giving lip service to cooperation with “allies” to fight China and Russia, they say the U.S. will “reinvigorate and modernize our alliances and partnerships around the world.” However, one must consider that if an “ally” crosses Washington, such as Germany’s refusal to cancel the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, they will also be sanctioned.
“Our democratic alliances enable us to present a common front, produce a unified vision, and pool our strength to promote high standards, establish effective international rules, and hold countries like China to account. That is why we will reaffirm, invest in, and modernize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and our alliances with Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea....”
In Asia, the countries targeted for “partnership” include India, New Zealand, Vietnam and all of ASEAN, and the Pacific Island states.
On the climate side “We will move swiftly to earn back our position of leadership in international institutions, joining with the international community to tackle the climate crisis and other shared challenges,” the document says a few paragraphs later. “We have already re-entered the Paris Climate Accord and appointed a Presidential Special Envoy for climate, the first steps toward restoring our leadership and working alongside others to combat the acute danger posed by rapidly rising temperatures.”
Furthermore,
“we will make the clean energy transformation a central pillar of our economic recovery efforts at home, generating both domestic prosperity and international credibility as a leader of the global climate change agenda. And, in the coming months, we will convene the world’s major economies and seek to raise the ambition of all nations, including our own, to rapidly lower global carbon emissions, while also enhancing resilience to climate change at home and in vulnerable countries.”
On the military side, the report pays obeisance to arms control and nonproliferation, and while it claims the administration will end the “forever wars,” it makes clear that the U.S. military will continue to be deployed globally to contain Russia and China.
“In the face of strategic challenges from an increasingly assertive China and destabilizing Russia, we will assess the appropriate structure, capabilities, and sizing of the force, and, working with the Congress, shift our emphasis from unneeded legacy platforms and weapons systems to free up resources for investments in the cutting-edge technologies and capabilities that will determine our military and national security advantage in the future.”
And while doing this, “we will develop capabilities to better compete and deter gray zone actions. We will prioritize defense investments in climate resiliency and clean energy.”
As far as force posture goes, “our presence will be most robust in the Indo-Pacific and Europe. In the Middle East, we will right-size our military presence to the level required to disrupt international terrorist networks, deter Iranian aggression, and protect other vital U.S. interests.”
The report also devotes several paragraphs to “defending democracy” both at home and abroad. Authoritarianism, it claims, is “on the march,” and therefore, “we must join with like minded allies and partners to revitalize democracy the world over.” It declares that “We will stand with our allies and partners to combat new threats aimed at our democracies, ranging from cross-border aggression, cyberattacks, disinformation and digital authoritarianism to infrastructure and energy coercion.”
“We will coordinate the use of economic tools, leveraging our collective strength to advance our common interests,” it goes on, clearly linking economics with geopolitics. “We will work together to impose real costs on anyone who interferes in our democratic processes.”
Altogether,
“this agenda will strengthen our enduring advantages, and allow us to prevail in strategic competition with China or any other nation. The most effective way for America to out-compete a more assertive and authoritarian China over the long-term is to invest in our people, our economy, and our democracy. By restoring U.S. credibility and reasserting forward-looking global leadership, we will ensure that America, not China, sets the international agenda, working alongside others to shape new global norms and agreements that advance our interests and reflect our values.” [translated: Rule Britannia!]
