USA: “China is a major geopolitical challenge, Russia is deeply dangerous”

After nearly eight months of war in Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin’s repeated threats of nuclear weapons, Joe Biden’s America still sees China as the main geopolitical challenge, while the containment of “a deeply dangerous Russia” remains. the key goal for the United States. This is the meaning of the new National Security Strategy, which comes months late because it was “imprudent” to publish it when “it was not clear exactly in which direction the war would go” in Ukraine, explained the National Security Advisor. Jake Sullivan. “China and Russia are increasingly aligning themselves, but the challenges they constitute are, in an important way, distinct – reads the 48-page document released yesterday by the White House – We will have as a priority the maintenance of a lasting competitive advantage with China. while we continue to limit a profoundly dangerous Russia “. But the war in Ukraine has not fundamentally changed the way Biden views the world, and the document reiterates that China is the only power “that has both intent to alter the world order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do so “. “Beijing has the ambition to create a strengthened sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and become the leading power in the world”, the document continues. And in which direction Beijing wants to push the world order, Biden clearly specifies in the introduction: “The autocrats are working at a continuous pace to undermine democracy and export a model of government made of repression inside and coercion outside – he writes also quoting Russia, relaunching the fundamental theme for him of the opposition between democracy and autocracy – these adversaries mistakenly believe that democracy is weaker than autocracy because they fail to understand that the power of a nation comes from the people “. The document, however, recalls how much China “is central to the global economy and has a significant impact on common challenges, in particular climate and public health”, concluding that “it is possible to coexist peacefully by contributing together to human progress”. And the strategy to follow is in three points: “investing in the foundations of our internal strength, competitiveness, innovation, resilience and democracy; aligning with the network of our partners and allies for common goals and causes; competing responsibly with China for defend our interests and build our vision for the future “. As for Russia, the document describes the invasion of Ukraine as the culmination of “an imperialist foreign policy adopted in the last decade with the aim of overthrowing the world order”. And the commitment of America in recent months, with its allies, “to make the Russian war a strategic failure” is underlined. A failure not only military and economic, see sanctions, but also “a decrease in the soft power and diplomatic influence of Russia”, continues the document which speaks of “a profound decrease in its status in relation to China and other Asian powers such as India and Japan “. “His attempts to transform energy into a weapon have been counterproductive,” it continues. Presenting the document, Sullivan stressed that “our world is at a turning point” and we are in the early years of “a decisive decade”, in which the United States, in addition to the “geopolitical competition” with adversaries, is facing “a broad scale of transnational challenges that do not respect international borders or rules”, such as climate, food insecurity and pandemics.