Wednesday December 13, 2017
US national security adviser General HR McMaster criticised Qatar’s and Turkey’s “new role” in sponsoring and funding extremist ideology on Tuesday, and attributed the rise of the Justice and Development party in Ankara to Turkey's growing problems with the West.
In a rare public foreign policy appearance with his British counterpart Mark Sedwill hosted by Policy Exchange in Washington, Mr McMaster announced that US President Donald Trump will roll out a new national security strategy on Monday.
The strategy will be based on four vital strategic interests for the United States, he added, and listed them as follows:
1. Protect the US homeland and the American people
2. Advance American prosperity
3. Preserve Peace through strength
4. Advancing American influence
In paraphrasing these strategic pillars, Mr McMaster spoke of three threats to US interests globally, and two of which centred in the Middle East.
First he mentioned China and Russia “as revisionist powers” encroaching on US allies and undermining the international order, followed by the threat from “rogue regimes such as Iran and North Korea” who he said “support terror and are seeking weapons of mass destruction.”
The third threat he labelled as the jihadist radical organisations that need to be deterred by operating effectively he explained.