A Return to ‘Hard Power’?

In an article published by the influential Foreign Affairs magazine, Mitch McConnell warned against the U.S. tendency to retreat and reduce its military spending.

As Donald Trump begins his second presidency, he would do well to reestablish American military “hard power” as the basis for his international policy, which means maintaining support for Ukraine in the face of Russian encroachment and remembering that China is the biggest threat to his country.

Trump will inherit “a world far more hostile to U.S. interests than the one he left behind four years ago,” warned Mitch McConnell, who left the leadership of the now majority Republican caucus but maintains a powerful position in the U.S. Senate.

In an article published by the influential Foreign Affairs magazine, McConnell warned against the U.S. tendency to retreat and reduce its military spending.

Many in Washington “pay lip service to the reality of great power competition but shirk from investing in the hard power on which such competition is actually based. The costs of these mistaken assumptions have become evident. But the response to four years of weakness must not be four years of isolation.”

He then pointed out that to stop supporting Ukraine is to lose the opportunity to erode Russian power. But beyond that, he echoed arguments that Ukraine’s survival means Taiwan’s survival, in a scenario in which he sees China as the main systemic competitor to the United States.

“A Russian victory would not only damage the United States’ interest in European security and increase U.S. military requirements in Europe; it would also compound the threats from China, Iran, and North Korea […] Russian victory is inevitable only if the West abandons Ukraine,” he said.*

Indeed, he stressed that the United States now faces a strategic alignment between Russia and China and, in explaining at length the failures of previous administrations involving China, Russia and the Middle East, he proposed foreign policy positions to the incoming Trump administration that in his view will manage what he described as “revanchist powers” and thus reinforce U.S. primacy.

He noted, for example, that China is currently trying to extend its influence at the expense of the U.S. and create supply lines that will allow it to compete globally with the United States.

“Trump would be wise to build his foreign policy on the enduring cornerstone of U.S. leadership: hard power,” he wrote.

The implications of McConnell’s call transcend his description of competition with Russia, China and even Iran, countries he felt were encouraged by U.S. retrenchment and domestic policies he saw as weakening.

In fact, it may well be a sign of trends in U.S. society that will undoubtedly have an impact on the hegemonic power’s relationship with other countries in the world.

*Editor’s Note: This quote, though accurately translated, could not be independently verified.