Part V of the Special Series for Global Peace and Security: a collaboration between WGI.WORLD (World Geostrategic Insights) and CGPS (Center for Global Peace and Security).
By Sunny Lee – Founder and President at CGPS (Center for Global Peace and Security), and Director at IKUPD (Institute for Korea-U.S. Political Development), Washington DC
When the Soviet Union collapsed as its main military rival in the early 1990s, the era of U.S. dominance undoubtedly seemed permanent. Although symptoms of decline have appeared frequently, there are still no other global powers that can counter U.S. military hegemony. Among these facts, annual U.S. military spending exceeds the total amount from second to tenth among the 145 countries in the PwrIndex.
The U.S. Congress passed the defense spending bill for the year 2024, which estimates $842 billion, exceeding Russia’s budget of $84 billion in 2023 by a factor of ten. Russia is planning a substantial increase to $112 billion or 6 percent of GDP in 2024, but it is still impossible to compete with such a gigantic figure in the U.S. military budget.
The unbeatable military power of the United States, based on quantity and quality, has dominated international society to ensure global peace and security as a prominent leader of democratic countries. Despite the obligation and responsibility of being a world police country, its overwhelming position has been the subject of strong controversy by challenger countries.
Whenever the United States assumes imperialistic leadership to check any challenge to its absolute status, international society becomes highly suspicious of its superpower position and dogmatic policy based on national interests. Ironically, the United States exposes dilemmas: if it focuses on international security, its imperialist position is strengthened.
In contrast, the imperialist enterprises of Russia and China, the most belligerent military powers, focus only on their national interests and strategies.
Therefore, U.S. military hegemony is divided to manage the three main spheres to maintain global peace and security: Europe vs. Russia, the Middle East vs. the terror countries, and the Indo-Pacific vs. China and North Korea. Whenever military conflicts break out, the United States participates in the center of the struggles to resolve or reconsolidate them. The United States will continue to play its role and obligations unless the UN has substantial military power.
NATO and Europe
Since the Cold War, NATO has been conducting the largest exercises with 90,000 troops by launching the Multi-Domain Operations in May. The program incorporates land, air, maritime, cyber and space operations, which have been central to the doctrinal development of NATO’s Allied Command for Transformation.
Steadfast Defender 2024 tries to show how U.S. troops strengthen military capability with European allies bordering Russia. More than 50 warships from aircraft carriers to destroyers participate in the exercises, and in addition about 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones conduct the magnificent exercises with 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles.
U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, NATO Supreme Allied Commander, proudly and thoughtfully announced. Steadfast Defender 2024 is designed to enhance NATO’s defense capability by improving interoperability, efficiency and resilience. The exercises demonstrate NATO’s commitment to collective defense to protect all allies from emerging threats of Russian attack and potential aggression from neighboring adversaries.
During World War II, Europe initiated a collective security organization to defend itself against the Soviet threat. After the Ukraine War, NATO increased its membership to 31 from the original 12, and Sweden became the 32nd member after Finland. If Ukraine is ratified as a member, Russia will be surrounded by NATO countries not only in the North Atlantic Ocean, but also in Eastern Europe.
Although Ukraine is not yet a NATO member, the United States has so far supported $50 billion in military aid and $100 billion in economic and humanitarian aid. In addition, U.S. President Biden continually urges lawmakers to approve a $60 billion aid request for Ukraine in 2024. As a central member of NATO, Germany has approved a military budget for 2024 that includes more than $8 billion for Ukraine. EU leaders, who largely belong to NATO, also approved a budget aid package for Ukraine of $54 billion for the next four years.
If the U.S. and NATO allies continue to support Ukraine, Russia will also be permanently drained and surrendered. NATO has been strengthened by the Ukraine War, and the United States has been able to fulfill its obligation to protect allies from Russia. The Ukraine War is a case in point of how the United States pursues its national strategy of military conflict management for regional security in Europe. In advance, potential military conflicts will be extinguished in Europe by stronger military affiliation among NATO members.
Middle East Policy and Israel
Soon after three U.S. soldiers were killed by Jordan’s drone strike of an Iranian-backed militia group, the United States launched its first retaliatory strikes against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militias in Iraq and Syria on February 2. Seven locations were struck in series, four in Syria and three in Iraq, with over 85 targets. The next day, the United States and the United Kingdom launched joint strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the United States will take “further action” following retaliatory airstrikes in several Middle Eastern countries. He stressed that any action is aimed at reducing militia capabilities against the United States. Iran has obviously supported Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine and the Houthi rebellion in Yemen with armed supplies and financial aid. Ninety percent of the 1.9 billion Muslims in the Middle East are Sunnis, but very aggressive Shiites make up 9 percent. Iran is the largest country in Shiite Islam along with Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq (south), Syria, Afghanistan, and Azərbaycan.
With the U.S.-Afghan war in 2001-2021, the United States experienced a severe national decline without fruitful results. Meanwhile, China managed to expand economically and exert its political influence in the Middle East as the main route of the One Belt, One Road project. The frightened United States focused on thwarting China’s imperialistic expansion in the Middle East, which in 2021 established the I2U2 group (Israel, India, United States, United Arab Emirates).
Now the United States is returning to the Middle East to resume its military hegemony as it turns into the hottest place in the world. The serial attacks on the Houthis, Iraq, and Syria show how the United States runs the Middle East with a powerful military strategy. The United States is trying to solve regional dilemmas to recover its military hegemony in the Middle East.
First, the United States controls Iran as a potentially nuclear country that would agitate resistant groups. Iran deeply engages Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi against Israel, which has triggered critical conflicts that have led to military reactions from the United States.
Second, the United States can play an intermediate role in resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. The war between Israel and Hamas must end as soon as possible, and Iran’s support for the resistant groups will be eradicated by U.S. military strikes and sanctions.
Third, the United States must support Palestinian nation-building with the international society for regional peace. As a major ally, the U.S. will convince Israel to end its continuing conflicts with Palestine. If Israel and Palestine coexist as an independent country, the major dilemmas in the Middle East will be resolved and regional security will be recovered.
Indo-Pacific Strategy
Northeast Asia has been the most challenging area of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. In particular, Russia and China have become much stronger military rivals, and North Korea has finally gone nuclear despite relentless international sanctions.
China’s military challenges have been frantically facing the United States, with the ambition of becoming an impregnable rival. Although China’s fast-growing defense budget is $230 billion in 2023, the U.S. government estimates over $700 billion because of the much lower cost of military spending. It is almost on par with the U.S. defense budget of $886 billion in 2023 as China pushes to develop superior weapons based on advanced military techniques.
The United States has provided about $620 million annually for security assistance in the Indo-Pacific and $13.55 billion for foreign military sales in this region. It continues to support peacekeeping rotations and capability development efforts to meet any military challenge.
U.S. military strategy in the Indo-Pacific has focused on strengthening the alliance to cope with China’s expansion in this area. As a result, the central deterrence strategy has been shared mainly with Korea, Japan, India and Australia to strengthen the deterrence and stability of the alliance. This significantly demonstrates how the United States strives to maintain regional security through multinational military operations with allies. In addition, four enhanced defense cooperation (EDCA) sites have recently been designed with the Philippines cooperating with potential allies and partners in exercises such as Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Cobra Gold and MALABAR.
However, the fundamental U.S. military strategy, covering the entire sphere of the Indo-Pacific region, has focused on the trilateral U.S.-Korea-Japan alliance as key allies and partners. The goal is not only to control the military enterprises of China and North Korea, but also to consolidate regional peace and security.
Specifically, Japan and Korea, in the geostrategic center, have been the U.S. military headquarters to conduct the Indo-Pacific strategy through the military alliance, strengthening joint military exercises. This effectively demolishes China’s potential ambition to conquer Taiwan: if Xi Jinping hesitates and wakes up from the illusion of provoking a war, China will eventually follow exactly Russia’s shameful defeat instead of winning the war.
The Collective Security of AUKUS, QUAD and FIVE EYES
The U.S. military hegemony has been sustained by collective security organization to reach global peace and security. AUKUS, QUAD, and Five EYES as a multilateral system are mainly targeting China’s military expansion and its reckless threat.
Although China strengthens the CSTO and SCO, furiously criticizing the overwhelming military competence against China, it cannot even beat the U.S. military leadership together with allies.
In 2021, Biden declared that the AUKUS, a new defense agreement that includes the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, aims to maintain a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” The agreement demonstrates how such a cohesive defense agreement effectively controls China’s rapid military growth. Biden particularly emphasized that nuclear-powered submarine technology will be transferred to Australia. As a strategic ally, Australia will have a nuclear weapons system in submarines stretching from the Indian Ocean to northeast Asia for regional security.
QUAD is another system of multilateralism as an affiliation of the United States, Japan, India and Australia to counter the Chinese threat. Japan originally initiated the dialogue in 2007 and was finally reconvened in 2017, when the United States promoted the Indo-Pacific Strategy focusing on security cooperation in the area. QUAD member countries have significantly concluded to defeat the threat of China, which has struggled with China in varying conflicts.
The FIVE EYES presents a top-secret intelligence alliance focused on military intelligence, which includes the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Korea, India, Germany and Japan. Countries in the alliance have been engaged in large-scale cyber theft, surveillance and attacks that have forced technology companies to insert backdoors into encrypted applications. The FIVE EYES also shares secret global information with member countries and cooperatively investigates China’s military exploits.
China has stolen a huge amount of advanced industrial technology and military techniques through cyber attacks. It maintains the largest hacking programs compared to the total of major countries and continuously conducts heist actions on a global scale. It would stimulate the FIVE EYES to strengthen mutual affiliation in the military and security fields to keep China in check. The system includes all suspicious activities in the air, land, sea and even outer space, as well as intelligence, monitoring and patrolling in cyber space.
Therefore, the collective security system of AUKUS, QUAD and FIVE EYES succeeds in its function and role not only to control China, but also to explore regional security as maintaining the U.S. military hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Military Transformation of the United States
The United States has faced critical dilemmas in maintaining military hegemony and controlling the world. These handicaps in the national strategy of a military superpower should be resolved appropriately. For example, Russia and China pose military challenges to the United States resulting in imperialistic attacks, such as the war in Ukraine and the potential China-Taiwan war. They are eager to demonstrate their military superiority to overcome the United States through aggressive warfare.
Therefore, military and security challenges have been won by belligerent countries-Russia in Europe, Iran and Palestine in the Middle East, and specially China and North Korea in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, cyber attacks based on high-level techniques by China and North Korea have seriously endangered the global security environment.
The United States intentionally conducts a military transformation to resolve conflicts in each area through a multilateral alliance. The U.S. divides the world for effective control and management not only in regional military strategy, but also in cyber space across the globe.
First, it is to strengthen NATO’s obligation and role to confront Russia in Europe. With continued support for Ukraine, NATO has strengthened its cooperation to defeat Russia’s military ambitions and will not allow any military provocation in Europe in advance as the United States plays the central role of NATO. On the other hand, the United States is also pursuing a reconciliation process to end the war in Ukraine with NATO allies.
Second, it is to induce a comprehensive resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States has controlled Iran’s nuclear development and regional resistant groups. Trilateral relations between the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia will play an important role in resolving regional security.
Third, the Indo-Pacific strategy has proven to be the most successful military strategy of the United States. To limit China’s growing power, the United States has strengthened its military alliance with Korea, Japan, India and Australia, preventing China’s military expansion in the Indo-Pacific region. China, surrounded by U.S. allies, is losing its national position in relation to territorial conflicts and the attack on Taiwan. The U.S. has strengthened joint military exercises around the Korean Peninsula not only against North Korea, but also especially against China, which would be terrified by the horror every time they come across the magnificent appearance of a U.S. nuclear warship.
Fourth, the collective security systems of the United States with key allies have demonstrated how the United States runs the world as a military superpower through division and integration. In particular, in view of the cyber warfare of the future, the function and role of the FIVE EYES will assume a much more critical position as it traverses the world. The United States, together with the extended allies, will completely defeat China’s conspiracy to spy for military purposes in cyber space.
The U.S. Military Hegemony and Global Security
The U.S. military hegemony focuses not on hegemonic power per se, but on building liberal value and extended order in international society. The U.S. National Security Strategy has shown how the United States effectively conducts its military hegemony to flourish international liberalism and lead democratic countries for global peace and security. This means that U.S. military hegemony is a necessary evil whenever it faces challenges against the superpower position.
Since becoming the most powerful country in the world, the U.S. has sometimes interfered excessively in the internal affairs of other countries, prompting negative reactions. Ironically, if the United States conducted wars, it would bring harm to international society in the name of global security. However, the U.S. military hegemony has successfully fulfilled its obligation to control military provocations beyond national interests. It has about 800 military bases abroad with 173,000 troops deployed in 159 countries as the world police.
Therefore, the United States should definitely play a mission and role as a global leader and thus its function will be strengthened until military provocations are completely ended to achieve substantial global security. The imperialistic ambition of Russia, China and North Korea continues to cross the world not only in conventional warfare but also in cyber space.
The U.S. military hegemony focuses on maintaining democratic values and international order toward global peace and security. At this point, the United States can overcome its overrated imperialistic position by transforming national interests into global security. Fortunately, the United States will continue to have an obligation to maintain global peace and security, which international society willingly accepts as the genuine goal of its military hegemony.
Sunny Lee – Founder and President at CGPS (Center for Global Peace and Security), and Director at IKUPD (Institute for Korea-U.S. Political Development), Washington DC. Sunny Lee is the author of 115 academic books in politics (original English and in German, French, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese). She is a bestseller writer not only in politics but also in literature on Amazon. Her recent book is titled: “The Influence on Humankind’s Peace through Korean Reunification: Creating new paradigm in social science by interdisciplinary research.”
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights).
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