In order to maintain global hegemony, the frequent deployment of troops and the creation of tensions have been strongly criticized——
U.S. troops stationed overseas seriously destabilize the region
Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense twice announced the deployment of additional troops to Europe in response to tensions along the Russian-Ukrainian border.
According to the arrangement, the United States will dispatch about 5,000 troops from the mainland to countries such as Germany and Poland, and deploy about 1,000 US troops previously stationed in Germany to Romania.
After the above-mentioned personnel are deployed in place, the number of troops stationed in Europe and the United States will exceed 90,000, the largest in the past 10 years.
In recent years, in order to maintain its global hegemony, the United States has continuously expanded the scale of its overseas military presence and adjusted its global force deployment.
These actions have created tension and turmoil in the relevant regions and have been strongly criticized by the relevant countries.
More troops in Europe, defending against opponents and allies
Unlike the Trump administration’s strong push for European allies to share defense responsibilities, the Biden administration announced the removal of the limit of no more than 25,000 active-duty troops stationed in Germany as soon as it took office, and supported maintaining or even increasing the number of troops stationed in Europe and the United States to strengthen the transatlantic military alliance. .
In April 2021, U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin announced that an Army Multi-Domain Task Force and a Theater Fire Command would be deployed to Germany; in June, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said it had begun deploying ground-based "Aegis" countermeasures in Poland. In August, the US Department of Defense announced that it would retain seven military sites that were originally intended to be returned to Germany and Belgium.
In addition, the United States has also strengthened its military presence in Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania and other "new European" countries through joint exercises and training.
Relevant statistics show that as of September 2021, the total number of troops stationed in Europe and the United States is about 88,000, accounting for about 34% of the US troops stationed overseas.
According to the "Global Posture Review" released in November last year, the United States will further strengthen its military deployment in Europe in the next few years and increase its military assistance to Eastern European countries to enhance the credibility of deterrence against Russia.
Against the background of the US' global strategic focus moving eastward to the Indo-Pacific, the Biden administration still chooses to strengthen the deployment of European military power, which has deep strategic considerations.
It is the core national interest of the United States to maintain its status as the only superpower in the world, and its control over Europe is the foundation of its global hegemony.
However, the "Old European" countries represented by France and Germany have been vigorously promoting the EU's strategic autonomy and building a "European Army", which the United States does not like to see.
At the same time, the United States has always regarded Russia as the most pressing real threat. Using the situation in Ukraine to play up the Russian threat will help create tension between Russia and European countries, strengthen Europe’s demand for security guarantees from the United States, and thus provide an excuse for itself to increase its military presence in Europe. .
Therefore, the United States has strengthened its military deployment in Europe, not only against its opponents, but also against its allies.
Deploy the Indo-Pacific, strengthen presence and implement deterrence
After the Biden administration took office, it continued the Trump administration's so-called "great power competition" strategy in the field of security, prioritized the Indo-Pacific region, continued to increase the size of the garrison, and vigorously adjusted the layout of forces and built the battlefield.
Strengthen the frontier deterrence within the first island chain.
After Biden came to power, he not only reaffirmed his commitment to South Korea's defense, but also approved the deployment of an attack helicopter squadron and an artillery division command to South Korea.
In the direction of Japan, the US military not only increased the number of destroyers in the Seventh Fleet to 11, but also promoted the construction of intelligence, surveillance and monitoring capabilities and missile positions on the southwestern islands of Japan, in an attempt to build a precision fire strike network against China along the Japanese archipelago.
In addition, the U.S. military has also dispatched ships and aircraft to conduct close-in reconnaissance on China frequently, and has repeatedly dispatched warships to cross the Taiwan Strait to conduct so-called "freedom of navigation" operations and multinational exercises in the South China Sea.
Speed up the construction of battlefields in the Pacific island countries between the second and third island chains.
In recent years, the U.S. military has proposed operational concepts such as distributed killing and agile combat deployment. The core idea is to use the large number of islands between the second and third island chains to implement wide-area distributed operations and "island hopping" operations, so as to improve the Indo-Pacific region. Battlefield survivability of the U.S. military.
In fiscal 2022, the U.S. Congress authorized $7.1 billion to support the Pacific Deterrence Initiative. The main contents include: building an integrated air and missile defense system in Guam, deploying new reconnaissance radars in Palau, and building barracks in Micronesia and Marshall Islands. , airstrips and fuel and ammunition depots, the construction of the Oceania fusion center, etc.
In the next few years, the U.S. military will continue to expand its security cooperation with Pacific island countries, and build the Pacific island countries into a combat fulcrum and a military build-up area for restraining the Western Pacific.
Strengthen military "soft presence" in the Indo-Pacific region.
In addition to deploying elite weapons, the United States has also enhanced the combat capabilities of its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region by selling weapons and equipment and conducting joint exercises.
For example, working with Britain to help Australia build 8 nuclear submarines to enhance the Australian military's ocean-going combat capabilities, conduct joint US-Japan island seizure exercises, teach the Japanese Self-Defense Forces island seizure tactics, and so on.
In addition, the United States also renewed the "Visiting Forces Agreement" with the Philippines, expanded military cooperation with Japan, Australia, Indonesia and other countries, pre-positioned logistics materials by establishing non-permanent bases, and obtained the temporary right to use military facilities for emergency operations in the Indo-Pacific region. Provide convenience.
It is worth mentioning that the "Interim National Security Strategy Guide" issued by the Biden administration proposes to reduce the scale of US troops stationed in the Middle East.
In the future, the US military may adjust the geographical distribution of large bases and transfer some resources to the Indo-Pacific region.
Cross-domain integration, military exercises seek competitive advantage
According to statistics, from 2017 to 2021, the number of US troops stationed overseas has increased from 200,000 to more than 260,000, an increase of 30%.
But in contrast, the more noteworthy trend of the US military is to promote the integrated use of global combat forces.
In September 2012, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff promulgated the "Top-level Concept of Joint Operations: Joint Forces 2020" joint doctrine, proposing the concept of global integrated operations, requiring U.S. joint forces around the world to use advanced information network technology to quickly communicate with each other. And achieve cross-domain, cross-level, cross-theater, and cross-agency capability integration with mission partners to achieve efficient collaboration.
In the past few years, the U.S. military has been promoting the global integration of the U.S. military’s combat power and capabilities in terms of concepts and systems, but it lacks a running-in test at the practical level.
In August 2021, the U.S. military will carry out the "Large-scale Exercise 2021" in a high-profile manner, mobilizing 25,000 naval sailors and marines deployed in the continental United States, Africa, Europe and the Pacific to participate in the exercise.
The exercise spanned 17 time zones and aimed to test the U.S. military's capabilities in command and control, logistical support, and cross-theater coordination in the context of large-scale conflicts.
According to senior U.S. generals, the "Large-scale Exercise 2021" is a global integrated combat exercise.
In the future, the US military will conduct more global integrated combat exercises.
Almost at the same time, the US military carried out an unprecedented overseas evacuation operation in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
This operation evacuated 124,000 people in 15 days, involving five combat commands including the U.S. Central Command and Transportation Command, and four major services of the Army, Navy, Air, and Marine Corps, as well as the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Disease Control and Prevention. and prevention centers and other government departments.
During the operation, the U.S. military established a "two-chain parallel, multi-level coordination" command system to build a cross-theater action support system.
It should be pointed out that in the context of relatively weak strength, the United States is still superstitious about force and further expands the scale of its overseas military presence.
Such an approach is neither conducive to its own development nor conducive to maintaining world peace and stability.
If the United States does not change its Cold War mentality and create regional turmoil for its own selfish interests, it will only encounter increasing opposition.
Chen Hanghui Guan Ying