Part One: U.S. strategy in the 21st century: leadership through hegemony
Chapter III: Official U.S. Strategic Doctrines: A View of the World and of Russia
United States: Strategic Plan for International Affairs48
Let us now pore over the State Department document. Not only Russian readers but even some American readers are unable to figure out the difference between this document and the one analyzed previously. At first sight, both appear to address the same set of issues.
The National Security Strategy singles out the administration’s priorities in terms of policy and the tools used to deflect principal threats to U.S. international security. It refers to the functions of the Department of Defense and the intelligence community under the direction of the president. The State Department’s document, on the other hand, develops a complex, systematic vision of U.S. national interests. Moreover, the Plan formulates U.S. goals in the international arena and defines the activities of government agencies abroad. This Plan is not a strategic plan for foreign policy. Note this difference: “International affairs is a big tent that covers the full range of U.S. national interests. These range from traditional high policy issues related to ensuring national security and maintaining international economic stability, to protecting American citizens abroad and responding to global challenges to health and the environment. In contrast, foreign policy as used here is the integral part of international affairs that focuses on the conduct of relations with other nation states and international organizations in pursuit of these national interests.” (4)
The Plan also explains the difference between national interests and strategic goals. Strategic goals reflect intentions that are realized through strategy, programs, and actions, while national interests are formulated in order to explain why these things are done. “To illustrate, the United States spends about $900 million each year on programs that support democracy around the world. Although our democracy goals are similar across countries, the interests we pursue vary greatly. Our investment in Russia’s democracy stems primarily from our national security interests, whereas in Haiti it is our concern over immigration, and in Sri Lanka our values lead us to support democracy for its own sake. This logic applies to all seven of the national interests and goals in the Plan. We have also introduced the general principle in the IASP of linkages among multiple strategic goals and national interests. Thus, in Russia the democracy goal supports not only our interests in national security, but in human rights, democracy, and law enforcement as well. In the IASP, these general linkages are identified in the national interest statements.”
The English language has many words that are rendered in Russian by one and the same word, цель, pronounced tsel; therefore, it is necessary to know the nuances of meaning and the specific uses of these English words. In the State Department’s Strategic Plan of 1997, for example, the difference is clearly specified between the words goal and objective. Thus, the Strategic Goal is the reduction of threats to the United States and its allies, stemming from weapons of mass destruction or destabilizing conventional weapons. The Operational Goal is the strengthening of the multilateral regime in support of nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, control over exports of these weapons, and nuclear self-defense in the international arena. The Objective or Performance Goal involves multilateral negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty by the first quarter of Financial Year 1999. (9) In other words, objective is a concrete goal with a set time frame for its accomplishment, while goal is a matter of principle, with no definite time set for its accomplishment. The following Plan for U.S. foreign policy should be perceived precisely in the light of the above-described nuances.
According to the Plan, U.S. national interests can be summed up in the following seven items:
•Protect vital interests, secure peace, deter aggression, prevent and defuse crises, halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and advance arms control and disarmament.
•Expand exports, open markets, maintain global growth and stability, and promote economic development.
•Protect American citizens abroad, manage the entry of visitors and immigrants, and safeguard the borders of the United States.
•Combat international terrorism, crime, and narcotics trafficking.
•Support the establishment and consolidation of democracies, and uphold human rights.
•Provide humanitarian assistance to victims of crisis and disaster.
•Improve the global environment, achieve a sustainable world population, and protect human health.
The realization of these interests should result in “a more secure, prosperous, and democratic world for the benefit of the American people.” (2)
The following items are the international affairs strategic goals:
•Regional Stability: Strengthen the security of the United States and prevent instabilities from threatening the vital and important interests of the United States and its allies.
•Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Reduce the threat to the United States and its allies from weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
•Open Markets: Open world markets to increase trade and free the flow of goods, services, and capital.
•U.S. Exports: Expand U.S. exports to $1.2 trillion early in the twenty-first century.
•Global Growth and Stability: Increase global economic growth and stability.
•Economic Development: Promote broad-based growth in developing and transitional economies to raise standards of living and lessen disparities of wealth within and among countries.
•American Citizens: Protect the safety and security of American citizens who travel and live abroad.
•Travel and Migration: Manage fairly and effectively the entry of immigrants and foreign visitors into the United States.
•International Crime: Minimize the impact of international crime on the United States and its citizens.
•Illegal Drugs: Reduce the entry of illegal drugs into the United States.
•Counter-terrorism: Reduce the number and impact of international terrorist attacks, especially on the United States and its citizens.
•Democracy and Human Rights: Open political systems and societies to democratic practices, the rule of law, good governance, and respect for human rights.
•Humanitarian Assistance: Provide humanitarian assistance to victims of crisis and disaster.
•Environment: Secure a sustainable global environment, and protect the United States and its citizens from the effects of international environmental degradation.
•Population: Achieve a sustainable world population.
•Health: Protect human health and reduce the spread of infectious diseases. (10)
Russia. Once again, we are interested in knowing where and in what context Russia is mentioned in this document.
In the section Strategic Goal: Regional Stability, we find: “Russia and China present potential long-term security challenges. However, the likelihood of a direct military threat to United States vital interests is limited.” (12) It is also worth noting that in the section about U.S. exports as a strategic goal, by necessity, the focus is on emerging markets such as Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, India, China, Taiwan, Korea (South), Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and other ASEAN countries. Russia is not even mentioned.
At the same time, in the section called Strategic Goal: International Crime, mentioned first among the countries and regions to concentrate on in this connection are the former Soviet Union, Nigeria, and East Asia.
Russia is mentioned one more time in the section about the environment.
48 United States. Strategic Plan for International Affairs (Department of State, Washington, D.C., First Revision, February 1999); Internet. In September of the following year, the next edition of the State Department’s Strategic Plan came out, but it is no different in content from the previous one, except for some organizational details.
The 21st Century: The World Without Russia
(Philosophical-sociological Essay)