On March 29, international media reported that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth officially outlined a completely new geopolitical framework called the expanded North American strategy.
Speaking at the US Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Florida, Mr. Hegseth described this as a pivotal step to redefine regional security principles under President Donald Trump's administration.
According to the new strategic orientation, Washington's vision will stretch from Greenland across the Gulf of America to the Panama Canal. The core point of this doctrine is to merge all sovereign countries and territories located north of the equator into a direct security belt.
The head of the US military emphasized that all countries and territories from Greenland to Ecuador and from Alaska to Guyana do not belong to the Southern Hemisphere group according to traditional classification. Instead, the entire vast area is positioned by the US as a closed security belt located in the same strategic neighboring region.
Hegseth argues that geographical factors play a fundamental role in this new security doctrine. Huge natural barriers such as the Amazon rainforest and the Andes are seen as clear boundaries defining strategic responsibilities between the southern and northern halves of the continent.
Based on that, the United States is committed to strongly strengthening its presence and combat readiness throughout the northern hemisphere through close coordination with regional partners.
While strengthening the northern flank, the new strategy also sets changing requirements for countries south of the equator. Washington calls on these partners to increase the level of burden sharing to ensure security for the South Atlantic and South Pacific regions. This coordination aims to protect key infrastructure and strategic resources from potential external threats.
To highlight the urgency and scale of the strategy, Mr. Hegseth recalled historical lessons from World War II. Mr. Hegseth declared that Washington is reviving the 1/4 hemisphere defense approach, thereby reaffirming its determination to protect the core interests of the United States and its allies by the harshest measures.
