Biden Releases National Security Strategy

Facts

• On Wednesday, the Biden administration released its new national security strategy - it focuses on Beijing and Moscow as the two major threats the US faces in the world and emphasizes America's goal to pursue a "free, open, prosperous, and secure world."
• The new assessment claims that China and Russia pose different challenges despite being "increasingly aligned with each other." It details that the US will, "prioritize maintaining an enduring competitive edge over the PRC while constraining a still profoundly dangerous Russia.”
• The strategy expresses long-term worries about China, stating that it “is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to advance that objective.”
• As for Russia, Biden has made it clear that the US won’t allow any country to “achieve its objectives through using, or threatening to use, nuclear weapons." However, it doesn’t detail what measures the US would take to enforce this.
• Only one brief reference was made to North Korea in the 48-page document, which detailed that the US will seek to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs through "sustained diplomacy."
• The assessment, required by Congress, is the first formal national security strategy outlined by Biden that places the pillars of his foreign policy into writing. According to Biden's adviser Jack Sullivan, it makes clear that the White House isn't analyzing the world, "solely through the prism of strategic competition."

Sources: FOX News, Washington Post, New York Times, Reuters, and CNN.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Global Times. The goals laid out in the Biden administration's first national security strategy harken to the dark days of the Cold War and will eventually bring instability and conflicts across the world, through their binary opposition mindset and zero-sum thinking. Despite claiming to seek diplomacy over aggression, Wednesday's announcement indicates that the US seeks to launch geopolitical competition against other countries.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Breaking Defense. The US must be honest about the threat China and Russia pose to global stability. The US is still willing to work with China when the countries’ values align, but as long as the nation continues to expand its military, the US must be prepared to defend liberal and democratic values. Moscow's hostility and recent military aggression demonstrate it poses a threat, and it's important that the US fortifies NATO's eastern flank and builds energy resiliency at home and among allies.

Predictions