The United States have vowed to remain a key NATO ally and European partner, but they will be taking a back seat to other people's wars, as they clearly state in a new defence strategy document, prioritising homeland security and Chinese deterrence.
According to the document, Washington will maintain a central Alliance role, even as it 'realigns its military presence in Europe.' The Americans will continue their defence support involvement on European soil, but as the new strategy goes, they have to and will prioritise 'the defence of the homeland and China.'
The US will also be stepping back from global conflicts that are not so relevant to their own interests, with the document outlining a policy of 'allies taking over the leading role against threats that are less serious to us but more serious to them,' maintaining critical but more limited support.
If timing is anything to go by, the publication of the new defence strategy, closely followed in the footsteps of the new US national security policy, which circulated in mid-December.
Both documents are being widely considered as a significant break with the tradition of close transatlantic cooperation. Their approach is that more weight must now be placed on national interests, instead of giving priority to other countries.
'This is guided by the principle, America First'.
