CHINA/ECONOMY/NATIONAL SECURITY/RUSSIA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump will put his domestic economic and trade policies at the heart of a new national-security strategy that depicts the world as one of heightened rivalries and potentially dangerous competition.
The new strategy, with an emphasis on confronting unfair trade practices and precluding rivals from stealing American technology, holds potentially far-reaching implications for relations with China, which is described as a ‘revisionist power’ that is seeking to undermine U.S. security and prosperity.
Russia is portrayed as a dangerous rival that is trying to restore its status as a great power and establish spheres of influence by dividing the U.S. from its allies and is using state-funded media and cyber elements to undermine Western democracies…
The drafting of the national-security strategy is mandated by Congress, and some past strategies have been derided as heavy on platitudes and short on policy prescriptions.
Mr. Trump’s strategy has attracted particular interest because it comes early in the administration and presents an opportunity for the White House to systematically outline views that have often been espoused in Twitter messages and sometimes have appeared contradictory.”
-Michael R. Gordon, “Trump Plans Shift to U.S. Security Strategy,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 18, 2017 05:00am