US should blunt ‘collaboration’ by China, North Korea, Russia and Iran: senior officials

Outgoing national security adviser urges Trump administration to expand defence cooperation with allies amid ‘dangerous’ global landscape

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Jake Sullivan has served as US national security adviser since the outset of the Biden administration in 2021. Photo: Abaca Press/TNS

Igor PatrickandKhushboo Razdanin Washington

Published: 7:30am, 5 Dec 2024Updated: 12:00am, 6 Dec 2024

Senior officials in US President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration stepped up their warnings about closer ties between China, North Korea, Russia and Iran on Wednesday.

Addressing the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke of “deepening patterns of collaboration” among the four countries and called for expanded defence cooperation with allies.

As the Biden administration winds down, Sullivan said his team has tried to galvanise defence industries, commercial companies, start-ups and venture-capital firms to develop systems that help the US and its allies counter “adversaries and competitors”.

Expanding and strengthening the defence industry’s capabilities would be necessary to “deter military aggression against Nato or Indo-Pacific allies … [and] equip our partners when they come under attack”, he added.

“I’m not suggesting we need to retool for a new Cold War, but we once again face a dangerous, complex and contested global landscape,” Sullivan said.