Washington to Declare Russia, China as Competitors Challenging US Power

TEHRAN (defapress)- The US President Donald Trump is expected to declare Russia and China political rivals, aiming to challenge US power, security and prosperity in his new national policy blueprint, which has been in the works for months by the president and his top advisers.

News ID: 67589

Date: 18 December 2017 - 15:31

"They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence," Trump's national security strategy read, according to extracts released by the White House, RIA Novosti reported.

America First, But…

Trump is fulfilling the promises he made during the presidential campaign by demonstrating an "America First" stance within the whole document, putting the protection of the country and its borders, military rearmament, extending power abroad and the country's trade policies among the key priorities.

However, the document recognizes the need to find areas of cooperation with the country's specified competitors.

"This strategy prioritizes America’s interests and acknowledges that we must compete, and I think you’ll see this throughout the document that we do live in a global competition and how we advance our goals is more critical than ever. One of the ways that we advance them, obviously, is to find areas of cooperation with our allies, our partners and sometimes with our competitors," a senior US administration official told reporters on Sunday.

Climate

The long-awaited new strategy avoids repeating Barack Obama's stance on the environment, with his 2016 description of climate change as the pivotal threat to US national security. The current occupant of the White House maintains a skeptical position on the issue, having withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, signed by his predecessor.

"We don’t use the term pre-emption in the strategy, we talk about our right to defend ourselves as a country," the official stated.