November 18, 2022
Taking on China and Russia
Meeting at the Madrid summit in June, NATO leaders issued their first new “strategic concept” in a decade. As expected, Russia took center stage in the document, and the heads of state declared Moscow a manifest threat to the transatlantic alliance. In a joint statement, they pledged their commitment to Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and committed to spend more on defense.
If it wants to succeed, the United States is going to have to pick its battles carefully.
Russia, however, was not the only major threat identified in the new strategy. For the first time, the allies said China posed “systemic challenges’’ to “Euro-Atlantic security,” and that its ambitions and policies challenge the alliance’s “interests, security and values.” To drive the point home, leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea were on hand to demonstrate unity and resolve.
NATO’s new focus is just one of many indications that a new strategic era has begun. The Biden administration’s national security strategy, for instance, states that “the most pressing strategic challenge” is from “powers that layer authoritarian governance with a revisionist foreign policy.” The new U.S. strategy, which was released in October, labels Russia “an immediate threat to the free and open international system” and China as the only competitor with the intent and power to reshape that system. Today Washington has chosen, perhaps by default, to compete with—and if necessary, confront—both Russia and China simultaneously and indefinitely.
Read the full story from Foreign Affairs.
More from CNAS
-
U.S. officials warn of Russia's sabotage operations in Europe
NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with national security expert, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, after officials warn that Russia is stepping up a campaign of covert sabotage across Europe. Li...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor
-
Putin on the brink as Ukraine membership ‘irreversible’
“This is irreversible. This means it’s going to happen. Nato isn’t going to step back, it’s not going backwards on its commitment to Ukraine.” Live at the NATO Summit, Times ...
By Jim Townsend
-
The High Stakes of European Security with Thomas Wright at the 2024 CNAS National Security Conference
The current moment in the transatlantic relationship is one of high stakes. The United States and its European allies are continuing to grapple with numerous difficulties, inc...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend & Thomas Wright
-
Richard Fontaine and Hal Brands Discuss the Axis of Upheaval
The effects of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine are reverberating far beyond Ukraine’s borders. Perhaps most fundamentally, Putin’s invasion has catalyzed deepening cooperation...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Richard Fontaine & Hal Brands