American nuclear strategy pivots: Focus shifts to China threat
President Joe Biden approved a top-secret nuclear strategy in March, reports "The New York Times." The document mandates that American services prepare for a "potential nuclear confrontation with Russia, China, and North Korea."
The "NYT" points out that the plan approved by Biden "for the first time shifts the direction of the American deterrence strategy and focuses on Chinese nuclear potential," which - in the view of Pentagon experts - could match the nuclear capabilities of the USA or Russia within the next decade.
Currently, China possesses around 500 nuclear warheads, while the United States and Russia each have over 5,000. Previously, for decades, Washington mainly focused on the Russian nuclear arsenal.
The American nuclear strategy is updated every four years. For security reasons, the full version of the document is not stored electronically, and paper copies are only available to select Pentagon officials and commanders.
Change in American nuclear strategy: "Washington has changed its thinking"
Pranay Vaddi, Senior Director for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation at the National Security Council, stated that the new strategy simultaneously emphasizes the need to deter Russia, China, and North Korea.
The "NYT" adds that the likelihood of Moscow, Beijing, and Pyongyang joining forces to challenge the United States seemed remote thus far. However, "the conventional arms North Korea and Iran are providing to Russia for the war in Ukraine have fundamentally changed Washington’s thinking".
"The new document is a stark reminder that whoever is sworn in next Jan. 20 will confront a changed and far more volatile nuclear landscape than the one that existed just three years ago," writes the New York Times.
The newspaper recalls that in recent years, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. - "We are dealing with a Russia that is radicalized; the idea that nukes wouldn’t be used in a conventional conflict is no longer a safe assumption," said Richard N. Haass, an American national security expert, quoted by "NYT."
North Korea continually develops its nuclear potential. "Its expanded arsenal is fast approaching the size of Pakistan’s and Israel’s, and it is large enough that it could, in theory, coordinate threats with Moscow and Beijing," warns "NYT."
