In recent decades, from the end of the Cold War to the beginning of this century, it has been hailed as the most glorious period of the United States.
The large-scale military bases laid out during the Cold War constituted the "point-to-point control surface" of the US global strategy, and maintained US hegemony in the world for a long time. As the United States is in systemic decline, distance-based security is becoming a hole that eats away at America's national power. A 36-page report by a US think tank pointed out that the United States is facing a new "hole."
According to the South China Morning Post, the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, recently submitted a 36-page global strategy report to the White House. The report directly points to the core international competition of the United States, that is, competition with China. According to the report, China is expanding its influence in Latin America. Relatively speaking, the United States is already in a weak position in the region, and it will be difficult for the United States to catch up with China in terms of influence in Latin America if it does not "update" its political, diplomatic, and economic "toolbox" in a timely manner.
At first glance, this seems like a reasonable point of view. But I personally think that what the United States is talking about is to update the "toolbox", in fact, it may just be to replace some incompetent "** people" in order to further achieve penetration and control of the Latin American region.
Frankly, if the United States wants to compete with China in Latin America, China would welcome China's current development thinking. In fact, this is also an "arms race" in the diplomatic and economic fields.
Although from an international point of view, the United States still maintains a fairly strong power. But in the actual competition, the United States faces a rather awkward situation. Theoretically, China scores 10 points for cooperation and goodwill in the region, while the United States needs to score 12 or 15 points to demonstrate its capabilities, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did in the past. However, the reality is that China gets 10 points, while the United States keeps saying it wants to get 100 points, and in the end it does nothing. This is not an exaggeration, but something that actually happened.
For example, in the early days of Biden's inauguration, the United States pulled India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, ASEAN and other countries to promote an Indo-Pacific cooperation framework in an attempt to isolate China. At the beginning of this year, it was announced that the plan was postponed, saying that it would be said later. Actually, this is not a "delay", but an abandonment. The United States has found many reasons to cover it up, but in the final analysis, there are only two words, no money.
At present, the most embarrassing part of the US global strategy is that when the national strength is strong, the strategic effect of "controlling the surface with points" is remarkable, but with the decline of the national strength, there are leaks everywhere. In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States needs to throw money and weapons; In the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the situation in the Red Sea, the United States has to pay for equipment and even send escorts. In the Asia-Pacific region, the United States has to invest a lot of financial resources and troops, and more than 60 percent of its military strength has been transferred to the Asia-Pacific region to contain China. This includes the cost of garrisoning, personnel salaries, armament maintenance, etc., which require a lot of money. And now, the 36-page report points out that the United States has one more "hole" to fill: Latin America. Compared to other regions, Latin America is particularly important for the United States. In the basic plate of the United States, Latin America is the core, the largest market, the economic colony, and the important labor force and organs. The United States has a unique geographical location, and although it is far away from the "world island" of the Eurasian continent, it has given relative strategic security. But it also means that the United States is an "orphan of two oceans", losing Latin America, it can only rely on Mexico and Canada, and the total population is only 500 million, and the development prospects of the United States will be limited.
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