The Trump administration quietly released the new "National Security Strategy" on Thursday, offering a rare formal articulation of Trump's worldview on foreign policy. The document states that the United States will abandon its traditional global role and instead strengthen its dominance in Latin America and intensify efforts to combat immigration. This strategy breaks with the U.S.'s decades-long attempt to become the sole superpower, stating, "The United States rejects the failed concept of global hegemony led by itself." The document says the U.S. will prevent other great powers from dominating, but "this does not mean spending blood and treasure to contain the influence of all major and middle powers globally." The strategy calls for "adjusting global military deployments to address imminent threats in this hemisphere and withdrawing from theaters where the importance to U.S. national security has relatively declined in recent decades or years." According to the strategy, Trump plans to maintain a larger U.S. military presence in the Western Hemisphere to deal with immigration, drugs, and the rise of adversaries in the region. The document unusually emphasizes the Western Hemisphere, linking it to the protection of the U.S. mainland, stating, "Border security is a core element of national security," and implicitly mentioning China's attempts to establish footholds in America's "backyard." The document states: "Our alliance provisions, as well as the conditions for providing any form of assistance, must depend on reducing the external influence of our adversaries - from controlling military facilities, ports, and critical infrastructure to strategic asset purchases in a broad sense." These plans are referred to in the document as the "Trump supplement" to the "Monroe Doctrine." The 33-page document also uses harsh language toward Europe, implying that Europe is in a state of decline, and pays relatively less attention to the Middle East and Africa. The document spends considerable time discussing China, even if it does not always mention China directly. Many members of both the Democratic and Republican parties believe that the rising power of China poses the most serious long-term threat to American global power. Although Trump's strategy uses strong language toward China, it remains cautious and far from inciting. The document commits to "rebalancing the U.S.-China economic relationship, prioritizing reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence." It also states that "trade with China should be balanced and focused on non-sensitive areas," even calling for "a truly mutually beneficial economic relationship with China." The document also states that the U.S. hopes to prevent war in the Indo-Pacific region - implying the increasingly tense situation in the region, including friction between China and U.S. allies such as Japan and the Philippines. The document also emphasizes maintaining the long-standing policy toward Taiwan, which is that the U.S. does not support unilateral changes to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. The new National Security Strategy and the related Defense Strategy were delayed in release, partly because of internal debates within the Trump administration regarding content related to China. According to anonymous sources, Besen had pushed for softening the wording related to China. He is currently involved in sensitive China trade negotiations, and Trump himself has also been cautious about the delicate relationship with China.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850738782015497/
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