ST R AT E G IC E NV IR ONME NT and the Soviet Union entered into a commitment under the INF Treaty to dismantle their land-based ballistic guided missiles and medium-range cruise missiles. Also in the FIS’s assessment, Russia today possesses a substantial number of landbased cruise missiles with a range banned by the INF Treaty. The USA relies heavily on the use of economic pressure to assert its national interests. Sanctions remain a key element of US foreign policy, and the USA uses not least secondary measures with impact outside its territory. An example of this is its policy towards Iran. The threat of exclusion from the US market and from the USA’s globally dominant financial system leaves large companies operating internationally, in particular, with practically no choice other than to withdraw from doing business with Iran. President Trump has set himself the goal of correcting the massive imbalances in foreign trade, which he sees in the first instance as being due to unfair trade with China but also with other key trading partners. He intends to counter these imbalances primarily by threatening to impose or actually imposing tariffs. This is intended at the same time to protect US industry and to increase pressure on the USA’s trading partners to open up markets further and to improve intellectual property protection. China: The long economic march is nearing its goal In 1978, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, China began to open up its economy and embarked on the long march to the forefront of the global economy. The ʻMade in China 2025ʼ programme, adopted in 2015, together with other programmes is designed to transform China into the leading technological power in just a few years. To this end, the country is systematically promoting its own key industries by methods including espionage and forced technology transfer. Disproportionately high hurdles are placed in the path of foreign investors; the Communist Party remains closely linked to private companies. At the same time, strategically important investments are financed with generous loans from state banks. For example, since 2013 China has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in dozens of states in its new Silk Road Initiative, thereby securing numerous opportunities to exert economic, financial, political and cultural influence far beyond the boundaries of Asia. Militarily, too, China continues to work consistently and in a target oriented manner on expanding its capabilities. The Chinese development model of high growth rates under the control of an authoritarian and anti-liberal political system meets with admiration in Asia and Africa, in particular. SIT UAT ION R E PORT 2 0 1 9 | FIS 23