Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mr Mattis said China and Russia posed a major threat to US security

US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said competition between great powers, not terrorism, is now the main focus of America's national security.

The US faced "growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia", he said, unveiling the national defence strategy.

In an apparent reference to Russia, he warned against "threaten[ing] America's experiment in democracy".

"If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day," he warned.

America has been gripped by ongoing investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump 2016 election campaign and Russia.

Speaking in Washington, Mr Mattis also appealed to Congress to fund the military adequately and refrain from "indiscriminate and automatic cuts" to the US federal budget.

President Donald Trump is seeking to boost defence spending by 10%, or $54bn (£43bn), in his proposed budget plan for this year, and hopes to recoup that sum through deep cuts elsewhere, including to foreign aid.

America's competitive edge 'fast eroding'

By Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent

The publication of the Trump administration's new National Defense Strategy signals an important shift in Washington's priorities.

For almost two decades - ever since the attacks of 9/11 - America's military focus has been on fighting terrorism, with counter-insurgency campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

But now there is to be a renewed emphasis on inter-state strategic competition - matching so-called peer competitors like Russia and China.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis is right when he says that Washington's competitive military edge is fast eroding. There needs to be investment in a range of new technologies that might provide the edge on a future battlefield.

But it is not simply a matter of spending more money. He pointed to the difficulty of passing budgets on Capitol Hill over successive years which, he said, had done more damage to US military readiness than any enemy in the field.

How much have US defence priorities changed?

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption US-backed forces may be celebrating, but IS has not been defeated

This is the first time the defence policies of the Trump administration have been spelled out in one place.

The threats listed are the same as under the Obama administration but the order of priority is different.

Formerly, jihadist militant groups like Islamic State or al-Qaeda were the focus but latterly America's former Cold War opponents, Russia and China, have reasserted themselves strategically.

"We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mr Mattis said.

A summary of the new strategy was published on the defence department's website.

How big a threat to America are Russia and China?

The three great nuclear powers have posed a permanent existential threat to each other since Cold War days.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Russia invited international journalists to report on their operations in Syria

In recent years, however, fears have risen of the once-unthinkable: a direct conventional clash, particularly between Russia and the US in Syria or Ukraine.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What will China use their new aircraft carrier for?

The new strategy recognises that "China and Russia in particular have been assiduously working over a number of years to develop their military capabilities to challenge our military advantages", said Elbridge Colby, US deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development.

"This strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to the basics of the potential for war and this strategy says the focus will be on prioritising preparedness for war, in particular major power war," he added.

What pitch for funding did Mr Mattis make?

The national defence strategy provides guidance for the 2019 defence budget.

While the US was "still strong", the defence secretary said, its competitive edge had "eroded in every domain of warfare - air, land, sea, space and cyberspace - and is continually eroding".

Appealing to Congress, he said: "No strategy can survive without predictable funding. As hard as the last 16 years [that is, since the 9/11 attacks] have been, no enemy has harmed the US military more than defence spending caps and sequestration."

Referring to the current wrangle in the Senate over a bill to fund federal agencies temporarily, he said a shutdown would have an impact on military operations.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Aircraft carriers project US military power across the globe

"Our maintenance activities will probably pretty much shut down...over 50%, altogether of my civilian workforce will be furloughed..." he said.

"We do a lot of intelligence operations around the world and they cost money, those obviously would stop."</s>Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks about the National Defense Review, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
• Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' National Defense Strategy is the first NDS in a decade.
• The new document recognizes the potential threats from China and Russia.
• The Department of Defense will focus on building a more lethal force, strengthening alliances, and a reformation of the DoD's bureaucracy.



 Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis presented his National Defense Strategy on Friday, outlining how the Department of Defense will carry out President Donald Trump's National Security Strategy, which was released last month.

"Though we will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we're engaged in today, the great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of US national security," Mattis said in his opening statements at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

The new strategy is "fit for our time," Mattis said.

Though he identified a number of threats to the US like North Korea, Iran, ISIS, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda, the NDS was focused more on China and Russia.

"We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia are from each other. Nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mattis said.

In the document itself, China and Russia are both mentioned by name in the introduction.

"China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea," the document reads. "Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors."

The NDS will have three primary parts, Mattis said — building a more lethal force, strengthening alliances and attracting new partners, and a reformation of the DoD for greater performance and affordability.

Donald Trump at a rally with James Mattis, his pick for defense secretary. AP

"Everything we do in the department must contribute to the lethality of our military," Mattis said Friday.

Much of the building up of a more lethal force centers on the modernization of weapons and equipment. However, these modernization efforts are not just focused on battlefield equipment. Nuclear forces, space and cyberspace, missile defense, "advanced autonomous systems," and a resilient logistical supply system will all be important focuses.

Mattis singled out nuclear forces, emphasizing repeatedly that nuclear weaponry was a last resort and calling it a "deterrent."

"It's not a war-fighting capability unless it's the worst day in our nation or world's history," Mattis said.

The DoD will also focus on training and education, especially for any roles focusing on cyberwarfare, according to the NDS.

US Marines with 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, disembark amphibious assault vehicles during Steel Knight 18 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, December 3, 2017. US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Ana S. Madrigal

Mattis noted that in his own combat experience, he never fought in an American-only operation, arguing that the US must fight with strong allies.

New emphasis will be put on being able to work coherently with the military forces of our allies, he said.

Mattis also said that America's allies must contribute as much to security as the US does and that the US cannot shoulder a disproportionate share of the security burden. The comment may have been aimed at the majority of NATO countries who do not invest the required amount of their GDP into defense.

"We expect European allies to fulfill their commitments to increase defense and modernization spending to bolster the alliance in the face of our shared security concerns," the NDS says, so that the NATO can "deter Russian adventurism."

The US Military will also try to find other partners in regions like the Indo-Pacific to work with, according to the NDS.

Reform the Department of Defense for greater performance and affordability

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis walks past saluting cadets as he arrives for commencement ceremonies at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, U.S., May 27, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Mattis said he plans to cut back against the bureaucracy of the acquisitions process, and the bureaucratic tendencies of the DoD.

"The current bureaucratic approach, centered on exacting thoroughness and minimizing risk above all else, is proving to be increasingly unresponsive," the NDS says. "We must transition to a culture of performance where results and accountability matter."

This seems to be in line with the Trump administration's dedication to cut back on regulations and red tape for businesses.

In a statement that would not have seemed out of place on the battlefield, Mattis said, "If current structures inhibit our pursuit of lethality, I expect service secretaries and agency heads to consolidate. eliminate, or restructure to achieve the mission."

Throughout his speech, Mattis constantly maintained that the US must first use diplomacy to end potential conflicts, and that a strong military was the best way to give strength to the State Department's credibility.

"In everything we say and everything we do, we are reinforcing our diplomats," Mattis said. "We are there first of all to back up the diplomats and then, if push comes to shove" to fight a war.</s>U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Friday called for restoring America’s competitive military advantage to deter China and Russia from challenging the United States and its allies and seeking to overturn the free and open postwar international order led by the United States.

The Defense Department identified “the re-emergence of long-term, strategic competition” by the two so-called revisionist powers as the central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security, as Mattis unveiled the first National Defense Strategy under the administration of President Donald Trump.

“We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia are from each other, nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models, pursuing veto authority over other nations’ economic, diplomatic and security decisions,” Mattis said.

“We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security,” Mattis said in a speech presenting the strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014.

Aside from bolstering U.S. alliance and partnership structures, Mattis pledged to modernize the U.S. military, including the nuclear triad and field sufficient forces to deter conflict in line with Trump’s call for preserving “peace through strength.”

“It is incumbent upon us to field a more lethal force if our nation is to retain the ability to defend ourselves and what we stand for,” the Pentagon chief said.

According to an unclassified synopsis of the strategy, China “will continue to pursue a military modernization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future.”

“China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea,” the 11-page summary said.

Russia seeks to “shutter” NATO and alter European and Middle East security and economic structures in its favor, the document said, criticizing Moscow’s attempts to subvert democratic processes in Georgia, Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

“China and Russia are now undermining the international order from within the system by exploiting its benefits while simultaneously undercutting its principles and ‘rules of the road,’ ” the summary said.

The document was referring to the free and open order the United States and its allies and partners have built since the end of World War II to better safeguard their liberty and protect their nations from aggression and coercion.

While China and Russia are the main U.S. adversaries in the latest strategy, Mattis said the Pentagon must address “rogue regimes” such as North Korea and Iran, as well as the threat posed by terrorism.

“North Korea seeks to guarantee regime survival and increased leverage by seeking a mixture of nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional, and unconventional weapons and a growing ballistic missile capability to gain coercive influence over South Korea, Japan, and the United States,” according to the summary.

Pyongyang’s continued development of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles is also connected to proliferating “these capabilities to malign actors as demonstrated by Iranian ballistic missile exports,” it said.

The summary condemned Tehran for using state-sponsored terrorist activities, a growing network of proxies and its missile program in an attempt to destabilize the Middle East and vie for regional hegemony.

Despite challenges from revisionist powers and rogue regimes, Mattis said the U.S. military is “still strong,” but that Washington’s competitive edge “has eroded” and “is continuing to erode” in every domain of warfare — air, land, sea, space and cyberspace.

“We’re going to build a more lethal force,” Mattis said. “We will strengthen our traditional alliances and build new partnerships with other nations.”

The summary referenced U.S. efforts to strengthen alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region as a push toward “a networked security architecture capable of deterring aggression, maintaining stability, and ensuring free access to common domains” in the face of China’s perceived attempt to force a shift in the regional status quo.

Senior Pentagon official Elbridge Colby said the administration needed the new defense strategy, which is the first in a decade, because China and Russia have spent the last 25 years studying ways to deny the United States its greatest military advantage — the ability to deploy forces anywhere in the world and then sustain them.

“The anti-access, anti-denial methods that both Russia and China have developed need to be countered, and this new strategy sets in place the framework around which to build those capabilities,” Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, told reporters.

Previous defense chiefs long warned about China, and the Obama administration put a greater focus on the Asia-Pacific region, including by adding ships and troops.

Derek Chollet, former senior Pentagon official in the Obama administration and now with the German Marshall Fund in Washington, said much of the strategy is “old wine in a new bottle, but in this context, that’s a good thing.” He said he was “struck by his emphasis on strong diplomacy, getting out from under budget chaos, and the importance of having a healthy democracy. That’s all correct, just seemed to be at variance with what’s happening elsewhere in the government, including the White House.”

While experts praised the document’s targeting of the largest national security threats rather than the longer lists of risks in some previous strategies, some said that without knowing the budget commitments, it was difficult to assess if it was a sound strategy.

“If we don’t actually see where the money is, you know, there is the danger that it could become all words,” said Mara Karlin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank and a senior defense official in the Obama administration.</s>WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday that America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia, and warned that the US military's advantages have eroded in recent years.

Mattis's assessment came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defense strategy.

"We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mattis said as he unveiled the unclassified section of the document.

"Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare -- air, land, sea, space and cyberspace -- and is continually eroding," he added.

President Donald Trump and his administration worry that the vast US military force is feeling the effects of years of budget shortfalls and atrophy, and needs a full reboot to restore it to an idealized strength.

Part wish list, part blueprint for the coming years, the Pentagon's national defense strategy seeks to increase the size of the military, improve its readiness and work with allies -- all while operating across multiple theaters including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

"This strategy establishes my intent to pursue urgent change at significant scale," Mattis wrote in the introduction to the strategy.

"We must use creative approaches, make sustained investment and be disciplined in execution to field a Joint Force fit for our time, one that competes, deters and wins in this increasingly complex security environment."

Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, told reporters that Mattis's strategy seeks to deal with the "erosion" of America's military advantage.

"What it is recognizing is that China and Russia in particular have been assiduously working over a number of years to develop their military capabilities to challenge our military advantages," he said.

The new defense strategy follows on from Trump's national security strategy that he released last month which, similarly, highlights the role of China and Russia in the global security environment.

"China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea," Mattis wrote.

"Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic and security decisions of its neighbors," he added, while also pointing a finger at Iran and North Korea for their threats to peace.

The two countries reacted furiously to Trump's security strategy, with Beijing accusing Washington of having a "Cold War mentality" while Moscow denounced its "imperialist character."

Trump's security strategy contrasts with the friendly nature of his first state visit to Beijing in November, when he received a lavish welcome and repeatedly praised President Xi Jinping.

One of the biggest criticisms inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill is that the US military is suffering from a lack of readiness, where troops and gear are not getting the training or maintenance they need.

Mattis said the United States must be ready to fight a war.

"The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared to win one," he said.

"Doing so requires a competitive approach to force development and a consistent, multiyear investment to restore war fighting readiness and field a lethal force."

Mattis's strategy also calls for greater coordination with allies, who Trump on the campaign trail lambasted for not doing enough to share the burden of defending the post-World War II order.

"We expect European allies to fulfill their commitments to increase defense and modernization spending to bolster the alliance in the face of our shared security concerns," Mattis said, in reference to NATO countries paying more into their defense budgets.

The document makes no mention of climate change, which under former president Barack Obama was recognized as a national security threat. Trump has claimed climate change is a hoax and pulled the US out of the historic climate accords in Paris.</s>Countering China's rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are now the U.S. military's top national security priorities, outpacing the threat of terrorism, the Pentagon said Friday.

A new national defense strategy says that competition with China and Russia has threatened America's military advantage around the world. And it will require increased investment to make U.S. forces more lethal, agile and ready for war.

"We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competition -- not terrorism -- is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in prepared remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

He declared the defeat of the Islamic State group's "physical caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, but warned that IS, al-Qaida and other extremists continue as threats across the globe.

The document reflects persistent U.S. worries about China's military build-up in the South China Sea, its moves to expand its political and economic influence around the globe, and what has long been described as Beijing's systematic campaign of cyberattacks and data theft from government agencies and private U.S. corporations.

And it underscores American concerns about Russia's aggressive military moves, including the invasion of Ukraine and involvement in the Syria war, as well as its meddling in the 2016 election.

Pentagon officials released an 11-page unclassified version of the strategy on Friday, saying it mapped out a "fundamental shift" in focus for the military.

"We've been doing a lot of things in the last 25 years, and we've been focused on really other problems and this strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to basics of the potential for war," said Elbridge Colby, the deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy. "This strategy says the focus will be on prioritizing preparedness for war and particularly major power war."

Previous defense chiefs have long warned about a rising China -- triggering the Obama administration's move to put a greater focus on the Asia Pacific region, including added ships and troops. And the new strategy's call for strengthening alliances sounds more like previous administrations, rather than the "America First" message of President Donald Trump's national security strategy that was released in December.

The Pentagon document says that allies and partners are crucial and can provide additional capabilities and access to other regions.

"This is not 1999, when some would say the U.S. can do everything by itself," said Colby. "There is a practical reality that we need to be able to do things together, to be more interoperable, to be able to divide up missions in a constructive way."

Asked if terrorism is no longer a top priority, Colby said it remains a "serious, pressing threat", and that Iran and North Korea are "urgent problems." But, he said that the central challenge for the U.S. military is "the erosion of U.S. military advantage vis-a-vis China and Russia, which unaddressed could ultimately undermine our ability to deter aggression and coercion."

Colby, however, added that the U.S. continues to seek areas of cooperation with Russia and China, saying that "this is not a strategy of confrontation.'

The U.S. has been urging China to take a more active role in convincing North Korea to set aside its nuclear ambitions, and the U.S. has held talks with Russia to ensure there are no conflicts or accidents in the skies over Syria, where both nations are flying in the war against the Islamic State group.

In the strategy's conclusion, Mattis makes clear that his goal is to "pursue change at significant scale" with sustained investment and creative approaches. That plan, however, will face grim budget hurdles.

Congress has been deadlocked and unable to pass a spending bill, bringing the federal government once again to the brink of a shutdown at midnight Friday. And lawmakers are still constrained by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which put mandatory spending caps in place.

The Pentagon strategy acknowledges the budget limits, and calls for greater spending discipline and management, as well as a commitment to again seek more base closings to save money. Congress has repeatedly rejected additional base closings.

The new plan cannot survive, Mattis said, without needed and stable funding.</s>US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said the focus of America's national security strategy has switched away from terrorism and towards rival military powers like Russia and China.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting American priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.

In unveiling the new strategy, which will set priorities for the Pentagon for years to come, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called China and Russia "revisionist powers" that "seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models."

The so-called "National Defense Strategy" represents the latest sign of hardening resolve by President Donald Trump's administration to address challenges from Russia and China, at the same time he is pushing for improved ties with Moscow and Beijing to rein in a nuclear North Korea.

"We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security," Mattis said in a speech presenting the strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014.

It sets priorities for the U.S. Defense Department that are expected to be reflected in future defense spending requests. The Pentagon on Friday released an unclassified, 11-page version of the document, which did not provide details on how the shift toward countering China and Russia would be carried out.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter at a news conference at the United Nations, said the United States was using a confrontational approach.

"It is regrettable that instead of having a normal dialogue, instead of using the basis of international law, the U.S. is striving to prove their leadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts," Lavrov said.

"We're open for dialogue, we're prepared to discuss military doctrines,” he added.

There was no immediate response from China.

Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, said at a briefing with reporters that Russia was far more brazen than China in its use of military power.

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and intervened militarily in Syria to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Still, Moscow was limited by its economic resources, Colby said.

China, on the other hand, was described as economically and militarily ascendant. China has embarked on far-reaching military modernization that Colby said was in "deep contravention to our interests."

The document also listed North Korea among the Pentagon's priorities, citing the need to focus U.S. missile defenses against the threat from Pyongyang, which beyond its nuclear weapons has also amassed an arsenal of biological, chemical, and conventional arms.

The document said that international alliances would be critical for the U.S. military, by far the world's best-resourced. But it also stressed a need for burden-sharing, an apparent nod to Trump's public criticism of allies who he says unfairly take advantage of U.S. security guarantees.

Trump has called the NATO alliance "obsolete", but Mattis said the United States would strengthen its traditional alliances while building new partnerships and listening more to other nations' ideas.

"We will be willing to be persuaded by them recognizing that not all good ideas come from the country with the most aircraft carriers," Mattis said.

The Pentagon is also working on a policy document on the country's nuclear arsenal. While Mattis did not specifically address that review, he said the priority is deterrence.

"How do we maintain a safe and effective nuclear deterrence so those weapons are never used? It is a nuclear deterrent, it is not a war fighting capability unless it is the worst day in our nation or the world's history," Mattis said.

Mattis had harsh words for the U.S. Congress and its inability to reach agreement on budgets.

The U.S. military's competitive edge has eroded "in every domain of warfare" he said, partly because of inconsistent funding. A bill to fund the government only through Feb. 16, approved on Thursday night by the House of Representatives, appeared on the verge of collapse in the Senate.

"As hard as the last 16 years of war have been, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact" of spending caps and short-term funding.

In sheer spending terms, the United States' military outlay per year is still far more than China and Russia. The United States is spending $587.8 billion per year on its military, China $161.7 billion and Russia $44.6 billion.</s>WASHINGTON—Wading into the government shutdown crisis this morning, Secretary of Defense James Mattis called on Congress to pass a budget during his announcement of the new National Defense Strategy.

Speaking to a crowded room at John Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Mattis discussed the new strategy for the Department of Defense– the first in 10 years– and how not passing a budget would affect it.

“We recognized no strategy can long survive without necessary funding, and the stable, predictable budgets required to defend America in the modern age,” Mattis said.

The National Defense Strategy is the Department of Defense’s plan for implementing President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy, which was released in December 2017.

The new strategy’s guiding principle is based on the some of the elements laid out by the security strategy, such as the protection of Americans, the country, our way of life and “preserve peace through strength,” Mattis said.

While the military will still be going after terrorists, the “great power competition-not terrorism-is now the primary focus of U.S. National security,” he said.

Mattis said that Russia and China are “growing threats” for the United States, “nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models-pursuing veto authority over other nation’s economic, diplomatic, and security decisions.”

He also called out North Korea and Iran as “rogue regimes” that “persist in taking outlaw actions that threaten regional and even global stability.”

“In this time of change,” Mattis said, “our military is still strong, yet, our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare-air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace- and it is continuing to erode.”

Some of the reasons he highlighted for this were technological changes, the impact from years of combat, and the defense spending caps causing the military to operate for several years under a continuing resolution, which has “created an overstretched and under resourced military.”

The new strategy has three main points that will “restore our comparative military advantage,” he said.
• Strengthening “traditional alliances and building new partnerships with other nations.”
• And reforming the business practices of the Department of Defense “for performance and affordability.”

After discussing the reasoning for each point, Mattis addressed Congress and its responsibility to the military to pass a budget—not more continuing resolutions.

“Let me be clear: As hard as the last 16 years have been on our military, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact of the Budget Control Act’s defense spending cuts,” he said. “Worsened by us operating in nine of the last 10 years under continuing resolutions, wasting copious amounts of precious taxpayer dollars.”

Mattis told the crowd that he is “optimistic that Congress will do the right thing,” when it comes to their responsibility to pass a budget. “I may be in the minority in this room when I say that. But I’m an eternal optimist.”</s>WASHINGTON - There is a major change in U.S. military strategy. On Friday, more than 16 years after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said terrorism is no longer the No. 1 priority.

Mock ships the size of American destroyers are laid out in China's missile impact test range on the edge of the Gobi Desert. They are the mirror image of the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan, headquarters of the 7th Fleet. An impact crater next to one of the mock ships is close enough to have destroyed all three.

Pentagon officials cite analysis by a U.S. Navy officer assigned to a Washington think tank as one of many reasons why China and Russia have replaced terrorism as the primary focus of the new national defense strategy. Maintaining a military advantage over China and Russia is now Defense Secretary Mattis' top priority.

"Our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare," Mattis said. "Air, land, sea, space and cyberspace, and it is continuing to erode."

According to one official, China has increased its defense spending by 10 percent each year for the past 20 years in an effort to counter U.S. abilities to operate in the Western Pacific. A Pentagon report says China "has modernized its conventionally armed missile force extraordinarily rapidly," and a map lists the types of Chinese missiles in range of U.S. bases in Japan.

The targets erected in China's far west include a parked aircraft similar to an American F-22 at Kadena Air Base in southern Japan, hardened aircraft shelters like those at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan and above ground fuel tanks laid out like those at a U.S. military fuel terminal.

America's military advantage has eroded in part because it has been fighting wars for the past 16 years. But Defense Secretary Mattis said "no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military" than the inability of Congress to agree on a budget.</s>WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2018 — The new National Defense Strategy is a good fit for the times, emphasizing the return of great power rivalry, yet still addressing other threats that abound in the world today, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said today.

The secretary unveiled the strategy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and stressed that the strategy is not merely a defense strategy, but an American strategy. The school is a division of the Johns Hopkins University based in Washington.

The strategy -- the first new strategy in a decade -- is based on the National Security Strategy President Donald J. Trump announced in December.

“Today, America's military reclaims an era of strategic purpose and we're alert to the realities of a changing world and attentive to the need to protect our values and the countries that stand with us,” the secretary said. “America's military protects our way of life and I want to point out it also protects a realm of ideas. It's not just about protecting geography. This is a defense strategy that will guide our efforts in all realms.”

Threats have changed since the last strategy. There is increasing global volatility and uncertainty with challenges from Russia and China coming to the fore. “Though we will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security,” the secretary said.

The strategy will provide the American people the military required “to protect our way of life, stand with our allies and live up to our responsibility to pass intact to the next generation those freedoms that all of us enjoy here today,” Mattis said.

The strategy expands the U.S. military’s competitive space, prioritizes preparedness for war, provides clear direction for significant change at the speed of relevance and builds a more lethal force to compete strategically.

In forming the strategy, officials had to make tough choices, “and we made them based upon a fundamental precept, namely that America can afford survival,” Mattis said.

“We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia are from each other, nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models, pursuing veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic and security decisions,” he said.

The threat from rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran persist. And even though ISIS’s physical caliphate is no more, the group -- and other extremist organizations -- continues to sow hatred.

“In this time of change, our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare: air, land, sea, space and cyberspace, and it is continuing to erode,” the secretary said.

Sixteen years of war, rapid technological change, defense spending caps, and seemingly continuous continuing resolutions “have created an overstretched and under-resourced military,” he said. “Our military's role is to keep the peace; to keep the peace for one more year, one more month, one more week, one more day; to ensure our diplomats who are working to solve problems do so from a position of strength and giving allies confidence in us. This confidence is underpinned by the assurance that our military will win should diplomacy fail.”

Mattis said the supremacy of American military is not preordained. “It is incumbent upon us to field a more lethal force if our nation is to retain the ability to defend ourselves and what we stand for,” Mattis said. “The defense strategy's three primary lines of effort will restore our comparative military advantage.”

The strategy commits the department to build a more lethal joint force. It calls for strengthening old alliances and building new ones. “At the same time, we'll reform our department's business practices for performance and affordability,” the secretary said.

An enemy will attack any perceived weakness, Mattis said. The American military, therefore, must be able to fight across the spectrum of conflict. “This means that the size and the composition of our force matters,” he said. “The nation must field sufficient capable forces to deter conflict. And if deterrence fails, we must win.”

Mattis added, “To those who would threaten America's experiment in democracy, they must know: If you challenge us it will be your longest and your worst day. Work with our diplomats: You don't want to fight the Department of Defense.”

Alliances are key to American success, the secretary said. “In my past, I fought many times and never did I fight in a solely American formation,” Mattis said. “It was always alongside foreign troops.”

The American military must be designed, trained and ready to fight alongside allies, he added. “History proves that nations with allies thrive, an approach to security and prosperity that has served the United States well in keeping peace and winning war,” Mattis said. “Working by, with and through allies who carry their equitable share allows us to amass the greatest possible strength.”

The third line of effort, he said, will be the foundation for the U.S. competitive edge: reforming the business practices of the department.

“We are going to have to be good stewards of the tax dollars allocated to us, and that means results and accountability matter,” the secretary said. “The department will transition to a culture of performance and affordability that operates at the speed of relevance. Success does not go to the country that develops a new technology first, but rather, to the one that better integrates it and more swiftly adapts its way of fighting.”

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan is already leading this effort. He expects it to leverage the scale of operations, driving better deals for equipping troops and modernizing systems.

This strategy means nothing if the resources are not in place, Mattis said. “No strategy can long survive without necessary funding and the stable, predictable budgets required to defend America in the modern age,” he said. “Failure to modernize our military risks leaving us with a force that could dominate the last war, but be irrelevant to tomorrow's security.”

Mattis added, “Let me be clear. As hard as the last 16 years have been on our military, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact of the Budget Control Act's defense spending cuts, worsened … by us operating, nine of the last 10 years, under continuing resolutions, wasting copious amounts of precious taxpayer dollars.”

The military continues to work tirelessly to accomplish the mission with now inadequate and misaligned resources, simply because the Congress cannot maintain regular order, Mattis said.

“That we have performed well is a credit to our wonderful and loyal troops, but loyalty must be a two-way street,” he said. “We expect the magnificent men and women of our military to be faithful in their service, even when going in harm's way. We must remain faithful to those who voluntarily sign a blank check, payable to the American people with their lives.”

Under the Constitution, it is Congress that has the authority to raise armies and navies, Mattis said.

“Yet as I stand here this morning, watching the news, as we all are, from Capitol Hill, we're on the verge of a government shutdown or, at best, yet another debilitating continuing resolution,” he said. “We need Congress back in the driver's seat of budget decisions, not in the spectator seat of Budget Control Acts' indiscriminate and automatic cuts. We need a budget and we need budget predictability if we're to sustain our military's primacy.”
Presenting a new national defense strategy, the United States Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, says terrorism is no longer the focus of the national security of the United States. Now it is competition between great powers.