The world in Trump’s strategic document.
The document, released last Thursday (December 13), states: A strategy must assess, categorize, and prioritize. No country, region, issue, or cause—no matter how valuable—can be the centerpiece of American strategy. The goal of foreign policy is to protect core national interests; that is the only centerpiece of this strategy.
The 33-page document goes on to outline America’s regional goals for protecting its national security:
A. Western Hemisphere: We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere is governed in a way that prevents mass immigration to the United States; that its governments cooperate with us against drug terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations; that it is free from hostile foreign aggression or attacks on key assets; and that our continued access to key strategic locations is assured. In other words, we will declare and implement a “Trumpian interpretation” of the Monroe Doctrine.
Our goals for the Western Hemisphere can be summed up as “engage and expand.” We will engage friends in the hemisphere to control immigration, stem the flow of drugs, and promote stability and security on land and at sea. We will expand by nurturing and strengthening new partners, while strengthening our country’s attractiveness as the hemisphere’s economic and security partner of choice.
B. Asia: We will halt and reverse the ongoing damage that foreign actors inflict on the American economy. While we keep the Indian and Pacific Oceans free and open, we will maintain freedom of navigation in all vital sea lanes, and we will maintain safe and reliable supply chains and access to essential goods.
The Indo-Pacific is already the source of nearly half of the world’s gross domestic product, and that share is certain to grow throughout the 21st century. This means that the Indo-Pacific is now and will continue to be one of the key economic and geopolitical battlegrounds of the next century.
We will rebalance America’s economic relationship with China, prioritizing reciprocity and fairness to restore America’s economic independence. Trade with China should be balanced and focused on non-sensitive factors.
We should continue to improve trade relations with India, encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security, including through continued quadrilateral cooperation with Australia, Japan, and the United States, and encourage Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending and strengthen their military presence in the Western Pacific. At the same time, we should engage with Taiwan and Australia to demand more from them.