US Defence Secretary: Monroe doctrine ‘stronger than ever’

Financial Times: Hegseth declared that the Monroe Doctrine — which in 1823 claimed the western hemisphere as a US sphere of influence — “is in effect” and “stronger than ever”, and that the Pentagon would make “defending the US homeland and our hemisphere” its primary effort.

His speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California on Saturday came a day after the White House released its national security strategy, which made the western hemisphere the top priority of its “core, vital interests”. It cut the emphasis on countering China and Russia made by Joe Biden’s administration, along with the reference to Beijing and Moscow as “revisionist powers” from President Donald Trump’s first-term NSS…