There was immediate sharp criticism of the new strategy from Germany and other European countries. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said about the critical statements about freedom of expression that he “doesn’t think anyone needs to give us advice on this.” In Germany there are not only the state powers of the executive, the legislature and the jurisdiction, “but also rightly free media”. Ursula von der Leyen’s EU Commission also rejected the allegations against the EU.
A passage that caused concern in NATO circles in Brussels stated that the basic US policy for Europe should aim to “end the impression – and the reality – of an ever-expanding NATO.” This would mean an end to the current “open door” principle. When asked by the German Press Agency, the alliance initially did not want to comment on this point in the US strategy.
At the same time, the document makes it unmistakably clear that the main focus of US security policy in the future should be in the “Western Hemisphere” – meaning migration from Latin America, the fight against alleged “terrorists” and cartels that bring drugs into the USA, as well as on asserting American interests in the region. It is noteworthy that which country remains unmentioned by name in this context, even though Trump recently turned up the temperature rhetorically: Venezuela.
Most of the pages in the document are otherwise devoted to Asia. It is said that the USA has misjudged China for decades. The relationship must be economically rebalanced and military deterrence in the Indo-Pacific strengthened in order to prevent a possible conflict. This is also part of Trump’s strategic approach: a “world’s leading, deadliest and most technologically advanced” military that is supposed to enforce American interests everywhere.
The Middle East, on the other hand, only plays a minor role in the new strategy – the chapter on the region is correspondingly brief. The area has lost its former strategic importance, especially because the USA is producing more of its own energy again, and many conflicts there pose fewer immediate dangers for the USA from the American perspective.
The document is brief on Africa: the Trump administration doesn’t even devote a whole page to the continent. Washington criticizes that US policy there has relied on development aid and the export of liberal values for too long. In the future, cooperation should focus on trade and access to African raw materials – and on partnerships with those countries that open their markets to US companies.
