Pentagon to offer 'more limited' support to US allies in defence strategy shift

BBC
BBC 3d
The Pentagon’s new National Defense Strategy says the US will provide more limited support to allies and will prioritize homeland and Western Hemisphere security over China.
Pentagon to offer 'more limited' support to US allies in defence strategy shift
A What happened
According to the Pentagon’s new National Defense Strategy, the US will offer “more limited” support to allies and shift its top security priority to the US homeland and the Western Hemisphere. This marks a change from previous four-year strategy documents that named China as the leading defence priority. says relations with China will be handled through “strength, not confrontation.” The strategy also echoes President Donald Trump’s calls for greater burden-sharing by allies in countering threats from Russia and North Korea. The 34-page report follows the prior year’s US National Security Strategy, which said Europe faced civilisational collapse and did not cast Russia as a threat to the US; Moscow said that document was “largely consistent” with its vision. The Pentagon contrasted this with its 2018 strategy, which described China and Russia as “revisionist powers” and the “central challenge” to US security.

Why it matters

  • Homeland and Western Hemisphere become top defence focus: The strategy elevates security of the US homeland and Western Hemisphere above China as the primary concern.

  • Reduced support and more burden-sharing for allies: The Pentagon says US support to allies will be more limited and calls on partners to do more, aligning with Trump’s burden-sharing push.

  • China policy framed as strength without confrontation: The document says the US will approach relations with China through “strength, not confrontation,” differing from earlier strategies that put China at the top of defence priorities.

Topics

World & Politics International Affairs Diplomacy Security & Defense

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