For Washington, Beijing is the only actor capable of “reformatting the international order”.
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The exercise is imposed on each American president. The Biden Administration published, Wednesday, October 12, its national security strategy on Wednesday, October 12, a forty-eight-page document which encapsulates the priorities of its foreign policy. The publication of the text had been postponed due to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine by Russia in February. The absence of international visibility encouraged to suspend the publication.
Eight months later, the conflict did not change the terms of this strategy. Rather, he comforted the lines of force. “Our priority is to preserve our competitive advantage over China, while containing a always deeply dangerous Russia,” explains the text.
It is hardly a surprise: the two powers are not placed on the same plan by Washington. The destabilizing power of Moscow does not mask its isolation and economic relegation, despite its energy resources. Beijing is, in the long term, the essential systemic rival. “Russia represents an immediate threat to the free and open international system, dangerously flouting the elementary laws of the international order, as illustrated by its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, summarizes the document. The People’s Republic of the People’s Republic of the People’s Republic. China, in contrast, is the only competitor who intends to reformat the international order, and who also has, more and more, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to achieve its ends. “
Competition and cooperation
The national security strategy represents a long synthesis which makes it possible to appreciate how America is perceived – irreplaceable but vulnerable – and what it hopes to achieve, in a world in search of solid benchmarks. There are both elements of continuity compared to the Obama era – which is hardly surprising, given the permanence of democratic teams in foreign policy – and other inherited from the Trump era, such as the will to “promote the interests of American workers”.
The document confirms the end of the cold post-war era, recognizing the limits of American power, as well as the abandonment of unbridled liberalism. More than ever, the distinction between interior and exterior policies is deleted. The text underlines the need for major investments in the future, on the industrial level and that of infrastructure, to be up to its ambitions in the world. He also evokes, without dwelling, tears within society. “As Improves, we must accept the fact that the popular verdict, expressed in the elections, must be respected and protected.”
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