Risk  

There are inherent risks in working with countries prone to instability, violence, and crime. Security risks in these environments can limit our agencies’ footprint. Politically, fragile states rarely travel a predictable path, which can affect our ability to introduce enduring partnerships and programs.  

Increase capacity and strengthen resilience of our partners and allies to deter aggression, coercion, and malign influence by state and non-state actors. 

The ascent of authoritarianism, the re-emergence of great power competition, and the rise of hostile non-state actors have altered the strategic landscape and increased the vulnerability of well-established democratic nations and emerging democracies. China and Russia directly challenge an international order based on democratic norms, respect for human rights, and peace. Iran and North Korea seek to increase their regional influence through coercion and aggression, using their nuclear programs and support for malign non-state actors. State-supported and independent cybercriminals attack the interests of the United States and its allies through theft, extortion, and malicious efforts aimed at crippling infrastructure. Russia conducts covert and overt campaigns to undermine core Western institutions, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU), and weakens faith in the democratic and free-market system. Russia’s predatory behavior extends to the political, security, informational, energy, and economic spheres. Recent subversive Russian actions threaten the energy markets in Europe and cause interference in domestic political affairs. The United States remains committed to deterrence and the principle of common defense as enshrined in Article 5 of the Charter of the NATO, and continues to invest in transatlantic security. China seeks to increase its influence in the Indo-Pacific region. China’s actions, including the militarization of disputed territory in the South China Sea, transgression of norms in cyberspace, continued support for North Korea, disregard for human rights, and unfair trade and investment practices threaten to undermine the international rules-based order that has underpinned peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and provider of military training, equipment, and funding to Hizballah, Hamas, and other terrorist networks. Iran seeks to increase its regional influence through destabilizing activities across the Middle East. Tehran props up the murderous regime of Bashar al Assad in Syria, spreads sophisticated missiles and other advanced weapons to its partners and proxies, trains and arms large local militant groups to fight its wars across the Middle East, and openly calls for the destruction of some of our closest allies. Cybersecurity and outer space are critical economic, security, and foreign policy concerns. Cyberattacks are relatively low cost and can be launched from anywhere, allowing adversaries to target systematically critical infrastructure, financial systems, and military installations worldwide. These cyberattacks can also be directed against civilian and business interests. Malicious state and non-state actors will continue to employ new strategies and tactics to pursue criminal or disruptive ends in cyberspace, and our cybersecurity policy must evolve at the cutting edge of technology to stay ahead of these changes. Outer space is increasingly challenging as it becomes congested with space debris and contested through potential adversaries’ development of counter space capabilities. The ability to address these challenges requires a collaborative effort, where cooperation means sharing responsibilities and burdens. Nations of the world must take a greater role in promoting secure and prosperous societies across their regions, thereby protecting the world against these common threats. Strategies for Achieving the Objective The United States will maintain our leadership and strong, forward diplomatic presence built on enduring security partnerships to collectively deter aggression, reduce threats, and assist our allies in sustaining favorable regional strategic balances. We will expand our network of alliances and partnerships and increase our ability to influence malign actors’ policy choices and encourage their adherence to a rules-based international order. To advance our interests in the most dynamic region of the world, we will support a free and open Indo-Pacific, working with allies and partners to promote economic prosperity, security, and democratic governance. We will deepen our unique strategic partnership with India, a fellow democracy and pillar of rules-based international behavior. To balance Chinese influence, we will reinforce existing regional alliances, including those with Japan, Australia, and the Republic of Korea, and strengthen other security partnerships, including with India. We will engage with China to address our differences on North Korea and in other areas, including trade and territorial disputes. To counter Russian aggression and coercion, the Department will lead allies in enhancing NATO’s deterrence and defense posture, promote deeper NATO partnerships with like-minded nations, and build bridges between NATO and the EU to confront the full range of hybrid threats. To mitigate efforts to undermine civil society and democratic norms, the Department and USAID will assist governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and faith-based organizations that face coercion and malign influence. The United States will continue to champion long-standing, foundational values of freedom and liberty. We will work with our partners to eliminate corruption and support the rule of law, strengthen civil society and democratic institutions, enhance energy security, support financial and trade reforms, support economic diversification, and foster independent, professional media. The Department will pursue a range of security sector assistance activities to strengthen our alliances and partnerships, assist them in their efforts against malign influence and aggression, and maintain favorable regional balances of power. We will ensure that foreign policy goals fundamentally guide security sector decision-making, and through grant assistance and arms sales, we will judiciously equip partners and allies with capabilities that support strategic priorities. We will forge lasting security relationships by improving interoperability between the United States and coalition partners; securing access and legal protections to facilitate deployment of U.S. forces; and supporting professional military education and training of partner nations. The Department will continue missile defense cooperation to deploy missile defense capabilities to defend the U.S. homeland, U.S. deployed forces, allies, and partners. In conjunction with allies, partners, and in multilateral fora, we will devise, implement, and monitor economic and energy sector sanctions. The Department will seek to increase cooperation with allies and partners to counter Iranian threats and destabilizing behavior; through sanctions, we will constrain Iran’s ballistic missile program and degrade its support for terrorism and militancy. The Department will build a coalition of likeminded governments to identify and hold regimes accountable that engage in or permit malicious cyber activities to occur on their territory, contrary to the United States supported framework of responsible state behavior in cyberspace, and to address threats from non-state actors. We will use a similar approach when addressing challenges in outer space. Cross-Agency Collaboration The Department of State provides foreign policy advice to Department of Defense programs, policies, and planning. The Department and USAID use Development Assistance and Economic Support Funds to support critical institutional capacity building and reform efforts. The Department uses Public Diplomacy funds to engage publics vulnerable to malign influence campaigns and counter disinformation. Risk This strategy requires that partners and allies have the political will and technical capacity to continue to stand against aggression and malign influence. However, some of these partners and allies may be beholden to the political influence of adversaries and potential competitors. We will continue to be challenged with balancing foreign policy and national security concerns while building partner capacity and interoperability through responsibly managed arms transfers.