The Most Significant Threat to United States Interests in the next decade and how American Foreign Policy can be shaped to address the Threat
Foreign policy refers to the strategies a country uses to create good diplomatic relationships and interactions with other countries globally. It means that foreign policy works towards bringing nations together, having common goals and interests, and eliminating differences that might make countries uncooperative in their foreign policy goals. America has a well-developed foreign policy that has been applied for many years, and this foreign policy has guiding principles that align America’s foreign policy with the best interests of other countries and the world. American foreign policy currently focuses on interests such as security promotion, protecting the lives of Americans and their interests, economic prosperity, making the world better through development, and promoting international policies such as human rights and environmental policies. However, in the modern world, various issues have become a threat to the Americas’ interests, which are unavoidable due to the rapid changes taking place in the world (Myrick, 2021). These threats will continue to evolve with time and may negatively affect American foreign policy if the United States does not take precautions and address the threats. Therefore, this paper aims to unveil the most significant threat to the United States interests in the next ten years and strategies the U.S. must adopt through its foreign policy to deal with the threat.
In the modern world, there are many threats to the United States’ interests, affecting the most important interests of the American continent. These threats are expected to continue in the coming years because the U.S. cannot stop them but can only develop effective strategies to counter these threats and continue with the goal of protecting and achieving its interests. These threats include geopolitical competition, terrorism, climate change, nuclear wars, and cyber security threats (Biden, 20211). However, geopolitical competition is the most significant threat to U.S. interests in the next ten years. Geopolitical competition is the increase in political power of countries linked to some geographical regions whereby these countries have gained more economic and political powers hence competing with other countries having the same or higher powers. Geopolitical competition creates rivalry among nations competing to become influential in all areas of the world economy, such as security, political matters, global economic matters, and overall world control (Markowitz & Fariss, 2018). Currently, the United States is the leading superpower country, which shows that it controls world matters while advancing its interests. However, in recent times, China has emerged as a rapidly rising economy, and this has threated the U.S. in achieving its interests. Also, Russia, a long time enemy of the U.S., is becoming a threat to the U.S. due to its improved influence in world matters.
Therefore, China’s growing influence in the world’s economy and political matters is a threat to the U.S., and the threat is expected to continue in the next ten years as these countries continue to develop rapidly to ensure they become superpowers in the future. Stares (2019) in his study discusses China and Russia as countries that can threaten the United States’ interests in the modern world and the following years. In the article, China and Russia’s relations with the United States have deteriorated, with tensions emerging among these countries in various disputed areas. The lack of good relations between these two geopolitical regions is a significant threat to the United States as China and Russia, coming from the same geographical area, are strengthening their relations to become a great force that can challenge the dominance of the U.S. in the global arena. Thus, there is a developing competition between China, Russia, and the U.S. in all economic sectors. China has become a global economic power in the modern world taking a bigger percentage of the global markets and production of products. This has threatened the economic power of the U.S., and China’s economic transformation is expected to increase in the next ten years (Stares, 2019).
The economic growth of the Asian region is becoming a big threat to U.S. interests as the countries there, China and Russia, are cooperating to make the region an economic powerhouse, which will threaten U.S. economic power. China’s current Gross Domestic Product is $ 12.48 trillion, with the expectation of massive growth in the next ten years. This GDP compares to that of the U.S. which is at $ 24.26.24 trillion currently. Therefore, the combination of China and Russia’s economic growth will be a threat to U.S. interests in the next decade. Also, geopolitical competition threatens U.S. interests due to the technological improvements taking place in the Asian country. China has and will continue developing modern technology, such as the use of artificial intelligence, space exploration, manufacture of modern military equipment for high level espionage, which will become a threat in the future to the U.S. in its interest of global security as China may become a technological superpower. The technological advancements have made China develop a military presence in the Asian region, with Russia joining China to form military alliances that will become strong and unbeatable by the U.S. in the next. The military presence will make it hard for the U.S. to have a peaceful co-existence in case of security tensions, and this may lead to war risks in the world with these countries ready to unleash their military power to gain influence on military power.
Cyber security is another area in geopolitical competition that will threaten U.S. interests in the next decade. China is growing its cyber security space and will compete with the U.S., which is the current cyber power globally to the report of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Dominance in cyberspace is a strategic interest for the United States, but the current rise of cyber security capabilities by China supported by Russia will become a big threat to cyberspace security currently controlled by the United States (Williams, 2021). The growth of digital technology in China will join the top-tier position currently held by the U.S., making it a threat to U.S. interest in dominating cyber space. However, the issue of geopolitical competition cannot be avoided as China and other countries have the power and resources to take over the world in various interests. Thus, the U.S. must use its foreign policy to address the issue of geopolitical competition.
The ways in which the U.S. can use its foreign policy to address geopolitical competition include the U.S. engaging in strategic competition with China. This means that the U.S. should mutually accept to cooperate with China on various global issues such as balancing economic dominance, military presence, sharing technological advancements and using them to benefit the world, and balanced trade. Diplomatic dialogue between these countries needs to focus on improving the world in a balanced manner and have diplomatic representatives focusing on eliminating any misunderstandings and tensions that may arise to ensure a collaborative existence that does not threaten the interests of the countries globally. The second area American foreign policy should focus on is engaging in balanced economic activities such as global trade by allowing trade fair trade practices between the two countries. The diplomatic representative should resolve trade disputes and encourage international trade with goods from both countries allowed to enter each other’s market to promote international trade with fair practices. American foreign policy should encourage increased cooperation in security matters by joining security alliances that promote global security and addressing security matters as a team to enhance trust. American foreign policy should ensure that security alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) cooperate with Asian security alliances, especially China and Russia, to promote collective security intervention and adhere to international law, which will eliminate disputes and tensions that may become a threat to the United States (Lee et al., 2018).
The United States should invest more in rapidly emerging areas such as technology to continue being the leading technology power. The United States should increase cyber security research and development to be aware of all possible emerging technologies that may be a threat, such as in security and cyber-attacks. The technology upgrade will ensure that ultra-modern and the most sophisticated technologies are present to gain a technological edge over China. This will eliminate threats to cyberspace that might interfere with the United States’ interests in protecting Americans and other people globally from cyber-related problems from terrorism, which relies on cyberspace to conduct attacks. Also, technological advancements and innovation should be protected as intellectual property of the U.S. to avoid spies who may sell it to the competitors, thus becoming a threat as China can use this advantage to develop the best technological solutions thus creating a threat thus affecting the interest of American in the world (Moreland, 2019).
In conclusion, geopolitical competition is the most significant threat to United States interests in the next decade. Countries like China are becoming more powerful thanks to rapid economic growth, improved political structures, and technological advancements. Therefore, the United States can shape its foreign policy to address geopolitical competition by using diplomatic dialogues and cooperation, balancing economic dominance, fair trade practices, adherence to international law, collective security alliances, and cooperation on cyberspace matters to create a unified system to fight cyber-related issues. Using these strategies, the United States will ensure that its foreign policy effectively eliminates threats created by geopolitical competition in the next ten years.
References
Biden, J. R. (2022). Biden-Harris White House National Security Strategy, October 2022. Collections, 2022, 10-12.
Lee, S. O., Wainwright, J., & Glassman, J. (2018). Geopolitical economy and the production of territory: The case of U.S.–China geopolitical-economic competition in Asia. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 50(2), 416-436.
Markowitz, J. N., & Fariss, C. J. (2018). Power, proximity, and democracy: Geopolitical competition in the international system. Journal of Peace Research, 55(1), 78-93.
Moreland, W. (2019). The purpose of multilateralism: A framework for democracies in a geopolitically competitive world.
Myrick, R. (2021). Do external threats unite or divide? Security crises, rivalries, and polarization in American foreign policy. International Organization, 75(4), 921-958.
Stares, P. B. (2019). Preparing for the Next Foreign Policy Crisis.
Williams, B.(2021). US ‘Retains Clear Superiority’ In Cyber; China Rising: IISS Study. Breaking Defense.https://breakingdefense.com/2021/06/us-retains-clear-superiority-in-cyber-but-china-poised-to-challenge-study/
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