Mike Nelson
In words and actions, key foreign policy decision-makers within the Trump administration seem to be signaling a shift away from the United States’ global leadership role. If borne out, these changes are likely to usher in a new tripolar international system in which the United States, Communist China, and revanchist Russia divvy up spheres of influence. The result? A more dangerous world for Americans everywhere.
This month, Politico reported that the draft version of the coming National Defense Strategy places securing the Western Hemisphere above countering threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and other global adversaries. Defense strategies, by definition, set priorities for the Pentagon as it determines how to allocate limited military assets. While previous blueprints—including one published by the first Trump administration in 2018— have focused on countering China, the latest one reverses the emphasis on America’s foremost geopolitical adversary.
If enacted, the defense plan would codify the Trump administration’s shift away from a U.S.-led world order. From withholding military aid to Ukraine to signaling an end to security assistance programs for NATO allies preparing to defend against Russian aggression, Donald Trump’s Department of Defense seems to be making it clear: The days of America playing a forward defense and acting as the guarantor of the liberal world order are waning. Instead, the administration has signaled plans to focus on a goal-line defense in our own neighborhood.
In an interview last week with his former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth articulated the rationale behind the Pentagon’s new approach. “We’re going to put America first. In this case, the Americas first—our hemisphere,” he said. “We’ve projected power for a long time in far-flung places that had a nebulous connection to our own security in the homeland. We’re securing the homeland.”
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