"The dominant position of the United States and NATO is weakening": why the Pentagon announced the loss of military superiority over Russia

Pentagon chief Mark Esper believes that the "military advantage" of the United States has weakened, and Russia and China are almost equal in strength. He made this statement at a conference of the United States Air Force Association, which was held in Washington on September 18.

The head of the US defense department added that the return of the era of "rivalry of the great powers" requires the US armed forces to quickly change and adapt to new realities.

“The strategic environment has changed, which means that we should also change if we intend to maintain the advantage that we have had for decades. The entire Ministry of Defense needs to tune into competitive thinking, ”the Pentagon official quoted Esper as saying.

In his opinion, Russia and China in recent years have been able to modernize their armed forces and are now trying to challenge US superiority in the military sphere. In his speech, he also accused Russia of conducting the so-called hybrid wars and emphasized that in the short term, Moscow is the main threat to the United States.

“The Russians use hybrid warfare to intimidate and threaten neighboring states, so the entire US government, as well as US allies and partners, must jointly prevent such tactics from succeeding,” said Esper.

In an interview with RT, military expert Yuri Knutov noted that after the collapse of the USSR, the United States did have a huge advantage over Russia, but now both sides are achieving parity in the military sphere.

“Then Russian military spending was minimal, and the equipment in service did not meet the requirements of the time. After 2008, Moscow took up the modernization of its army and achieved quite serious successes in this, ”he emphasized.

So, Russia managed to circumvent the United States in hypersonic and laser weapons, which are already on alert, Knutov said.

“Moscow has a Poseidon with a nuclear power plant, a Vanguard, Dagger, Zircon hypersonic unit, which will soon enter the army, while Washington has everything at the level of paper or concepts, which causes Americans have a panic. The United States believed that they could act in relation to Russia in the same way as they now behave with Iran. But it turned out that it was necessary to reckon with it and it must be respected, that Washington’s plans never entered into the plans, ”the analyst noted.

Earlier, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, also expressed similar concerns. He noted that NATO as a whole is losing its military advantage over the Russian Federation. That is why, he pointed out, the North Atlantic Alliance was forced to adopt a new strategy in May 2019.

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford
• © Yuri Gripas / Reuters

“Russia is a competitor, and NATO’s advantage over Moscow, which is becoming more confident, has declined,” the general said after a meeting of the Alliance’s military committee in Slovenia.

According to Dunford, the alliance is reforming forces to fit the new military strategy.

“The program reflects the full range of our activities. We use the National Defense Strategy and the National Military Strategy. We are experimenting and organizing military exercises, which is the determining factor for the distribution of investments, ”the Pentagon website quoted the military leader as saying.

Recall that at the end of May this year, the NATO military committee adopted a new strategy, while not disclosing its content. In the accompanying materials published by NATO, it was reported that it aims to "adapt the Alliance to increasingly complex security challenges." In addition, it is known that the implementation of this strategy will allow us to review the decision-making process within the command structures and increase the overall coordination of actions of the alliance member countries.

Even before the adoption of this document, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the block’s countries needed a new doctrine, including because of the nuclear threat from Russia.

As noted by the head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology Plekhanova Andrei Koshkin, in NATO for a long time were confident in their military superiority and considered Russia a regional power, however, Moscow’s successes in reforming the Russian army are worrying for Western military leaders.

“The dominant position of the US and NATO is weakening due to the emergence of new centers of power, such as Russia, India and China. This forces Washington to restructure its foreign policy strategy, ”he said in an interview with RT.

Chasing money and allies

US President Donald Trump recently spoke about the threat from Russia and China. According to him, Washington’s increase in military spending to record levels is due to competition with Moscow and Beijing in the military sphere.

• US Department of Defense Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia
• © US Army

“We have reached record levels of financing the armed forces: $ 700 billion last year, $ 716 billion this year, $ 738 billion (next. - RT ). You know, I am a supporter of the budget framework, but we had no choice. We had ourselves to rebuild our armed forces, taking into account everything that is happening now, referring to China, Russia, radical Islam - everything that now we are witnessing it to happen. Page 5 - 4 - - •. Page 4 of 148. [/ Bbp]. ”“ That’s why? ”He said.“ What about. ”(" I think, China!). "” “You have to!" “I have to.” ".?.."??.?.!??.!...,?! ,.. ..,. What we see now.https, .call..;,?.,..?!?????!?.?.?;;,;,;;,,.,. That we are currently observing.,?,.,,..., That. We are now observing. ,.;,.??!?!.,...??!,.??,?!,!,!,!,; ,..;.,.;,., That,. What we are now observer. ?.?!??!.!??!??!??.?!??!???.;?;;?;.,. We had to do something, ”Trump said during a speech to his supporters in North Carolina on September 10.

Statements by Trump and the Pentagon were supported by the findings of numerous American brain trusts. Experts from the Atlantic Council, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the US Navy published reports that essentially meant that Washington should develop innovative methods of warfare, as the US armed forces lagged significantly behind competitors - Russia and China .

Yuri Knutov believes that such statements by the Trump administration are explained, among other things, by the desire to win over the American military-industrial complex.

“In the 2016 election campaign, Trump relied on the military-industrial complex to be supported by arms manufacturers, allocating him funds for the election campaign. Today, this is again being repeated, since now the US is launching an election campaign to re-elect Trump for a second term, ”the expert noted.

In turn, Koshkin pointed out that Washington is using statements about the threat from Moscow to rally its allies around it, which it has become increasingly difficult to negotiate with recently.

“Today, the United States is difficult to build relations with allies, especially with Europe, therefore, in order to mobilize and rally them around them, they use this kind of rhetoric,” the expert believes.

However, all this, Koshkin believes, will not help restore the US dominant position in the military sphere, as competitors will also continue to develop their potential.

“The US military budget is overheated, the US public debt is very high, but Washington is ready to continue to support NATO infrastructure. But today there are more and more new centers of power, as a result of which Washington is losing its dominant position in the world, ”the expert concluded.