After a long delay due to various reasons, the administration of U.S President Joe Biden finally announced the 2022 National Defence Strategy (NDS). The content of this NDS and whether recent U.S military activities are consistent with the NDS is a matter of international concern.

At the end of March 2022, the U.S Department of Defence submitted the basic content of the NDS for 2022 in the form of a confidential document (14 pages and only 2 were declassified) to the U.S Congress and was later approved. In this NDS, priorities, as well as implementation measures are outlined, while the biggest strategic competitors and threats are also identified and highlighted. However, it was not until 27^th October 2022 that the U.S Department of Defence officially announced the 2022 NDS after more than six months of delay. That showed the importance of this strategy as well as the efforts of President Joe Biden’s administration to send a message of deterrence to adversaries and to reassure its allies and partners about the role of the U.S in ensuring security in the context that it had to face challenges and difficulties, such as the mid-term election, natural disasters, epidemics, the military conflict in Ukraine, tensions in Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula, etc.

The 2022 Defence Strategy is 80 pages long, which concretises the contents of the declassified version published earlier. This is the first time the U.S Government has included the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and the Missile Defence Review (MDR) in its Strategy, demonstrating the synchronisation between policy and implementation resources. The content of the Strategy is basically consistent with the important contents of the Indo-Pacific Strategy (12^th February 2022), the National Security Strategy (12^th October 2022), and the National Security Strategic Guidance published earlier (3^rd March 2022). The Strategy continues to focus on U.S engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, considers China as the most comprehensive and long-term challenge and considers Russia as a threat while focusing on promoting a wide network of alliances and partners, etc. In this Strategy, the Administration of President Joe Biden identifies four national defence priorities as protecting the nation and responding to the complex threat posed by China; deterring strategic attacks against the U.S and its allies and partners; deterring aggressive actions from China in the Indo-Pacific region and from Russia in Europe; building a coalition and national defence system with high combat strength. To achieve its objectives, the Strategy sets out three main directions for implementation: (1) strengthening the capacity of “integrated deterrence”; (2) synchronising the activities of the Department of Defence; (3) building long-term advantages through force development, investment in technology and human factors.

Several new points in the Strategy

It can be seen from the published document that the U.S 2022 NDS has inherited a number of contents of the 2018 NDS, namely: focusing on consolidation and improvement of the military’s capability; strengthening the ability to coordinate and cooperate with allies and partners; assessing the international security environment, etc. The Strategy also acknowledges that the U.S military advantage in some regions is being lessened compared to its competitors, especially China, Russia, and Iran as these countries increase their military investment to bridge the gap with the US. However, the Administration of President Joe Biden also identified several new points in the Strategy, which are reflected in three major adjustments as follows:

First, the Strategy believes that the next decade is a decisive period and the U.S will have to deal with several serious challenges. Unlike the 2018 Strategy, the 2022 Strategy not only classifies China and Russia as strategic competitors, but also identifies China as the most serious, comprehensive, and long-term challenge and Russia as an urgent threat in Europe to the U.S. The Strategy also identifies China as the only nation with the intention and ability to reshape the international order. The fact that China is pushed into a big and long-term challenge in the context that Russia is still deploying a special military operation in Ukraine shows that the Administration of President Joe Biden will continue to consider China as well as the Indo-Pacific region as the highest priority in the coming time. Beside challenges from strategic competitors, the U.S government believes that non-traditional issues and climate change are also significant obstacles to the deployment of military operations.

Second, the 2022 NDS conders “integrated deterrence” as the main theme and will be implemented by the U.S Department of Defence by the use of all tools and measures within its competence, in close coordination with departments, branches, functional agencies, allies, and partners, thus making its competitors understand the consequences of aggressive behaviour. Deterrence has been a key measure in U.S Defence policies since the Cold War era. The combination of military power with economic and political pressure, etc. to deter competitors is a regular act of U.S presidents. The previous NDSs emphasised that long-term strategic competition requires a combination of measures and national strength, including diplomacy, information, economy, finance, intelligence, law, and military. However, under the presidency of Joe Biden, “integrated deterrence” has officially been concretised into a major direction of the NDS. Accordingly, in addition to traditional measures, “integrated deterrence” refers to economic sanctions, export control, diplomacy, information, etc. while “nuclear deterrence” is considered the backbone. The new NDS shows that the U.S will not commit to the no-first-use policy and leave open the possibility of deploying these weapons in an urgent situation to protect the vital interests of the U.S and its allies and partners.

Third, this is the first time a new term - “grey zone” is included in an important U.S strategic document. According to the Strategy, U.S’ competitors are trying to change the status quo with the “grey zone” tactic, using coercive measures that are not in line with international practice but cannot be responded by military countermeasures. For China, the “grey zone” activities are aimed at establishing control in the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the East Sea, and disputed land border areas. Like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran use the “grey zone” tactic by using counter-propaganda measures, cyber operations, development of missile systems, drones, proxy forces, etc. threatening the security of the U.S and its allies and partners. Therefore, to deal with “grey zone” challenges, the U.S will focus on taking measures such as intelligence sharing, economic and diplomatic sanctions, etc. as well as providing support to enhance military capabilities for allies and partners to combat these acts.

The Indo-Pacific region in the new NDS

The recent U.S military activities in the Indo-Pacific region have shown consistency with the contents of the 2022 NDS, notably the increase in military presence, capacity building, and coordination with allies and partners, thus strengthening synergy in combat. One of the most notable steps taken by the Administration of President Joe Biden in this region is the resumption of the Visiting Force Agreement (VFA) with the Philippines. Accordingly, the U.S Army is allowed to access two important military bases of the Philippines, namely Subic and Clark. Besides, the U.S regularly maintains from 2 to 4 aircraft carrier groups, deploy modern military means such as F-22 raptors, B-1B strategic bombers, etc. to participate in joint exercises with its allies and partners in the region. According to international research experts, the number of bilateral and multilateral U.S exercises in the Indo-Pacific region is likely to increase in 2022, especially when tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait show signs of escalation. As of July 2022, the U.S and Japan have held 51 bilateral exercises, which is an increase of about 50% compared to the same period in 2021. Additionally, the U.S resumed the Ulchi-Freedom Shield live-fire drill with Korea after a 4-year hiatus. The U.S also provides support to improve the military capabilities of its allies and partners through training programmes, cooperation in developing submarine technology and hypersonic weapons within the framework of signed agreements, notably the trilateral security pact (AUKUS) between Australia, the UK, and the U.S and sales of military equipment and means, etc.

In the fiscal year 2023, with the expected increase of approximately 4% in the defence budget, the Administration of President Joe Biden will have a number of advantages in ensuring resources to realise the contents of the new NDS, especially the deployment of defence and security activities in the Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, the U.S Department of Defence will have conditions to promote cooperation with its allies and partners through multilateral exercises, intelligence sharing, and capacity building for the paramilitary forces of its allies and partners to deal with the “grey zone” strategy. Additionally, the U.S will seek opportunities to expand and deploy more forces and military facilities in the region. In particular, last October, the U.S planned to deploy 6 B-52 strategic bombers that can carry nuclear weapons in Northern Australia.

According to military experts, the recent military activities that the U.S has been deploying in the Indo-Pacific region, along with the announcement of the 2022 NDS, can escalate tensions and provoke conflicts, thus triggering an arms race in the region. Nevertheless, the fact that the U.S is mobilising a great deal of resources to aid Ukraine and its policy of being open to cooperation with competitors, promoting risk management as well as close cooperation with its allies and partners in resolving conflicts, can play a vital role in maintaining strategic balance, limiting coercive activities and military adventures, thus guaranteeing peace and stability in the region.

MY CHAU (translated by DOAN NGOC LUONG)