Ryan ties Western Hemisphere economic dominance to US security strategy

Gen. Joseph Ryan said the 2025 National Security Strategy makes economic dominance in the Western Hemisphere a national security priority, linking the US military’s regional role to economic aims. Ryan, commander of the U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command, spoke at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting during a panel discussion.

The Army Times account describes Ryan’s remarks as a goal of “economic supremacy” and says he outlined plans to expand the US military footprint in Central and South America. It identifies Gen. Luis Cardozo and Vice Adm. Jo-Ann Burdian as the other panel participants. The account does not give further detail on the proposed expansion or specify what it would involve.

A separate account adds a sharper explanation of the economic rationale. It says Ryan described the strategy as an effort to reclaim economic ground increasingly influenced by the People’s Republic of China over the past two decades. That account says Ryan characterized this influence as a significant threat to US national security.

These are Ryan’s stated views, not independent findings about the scale of China’s influence or its security effects. The same account says Ryan expressed concern about the presence of groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah in the area. It does not describe any specific activity by the group, identify a particular location, or connect that concern to a named operation or policy.

The remarks therefore establish that Ryan raised the issue, but not the details or evidence behind the concern. The central emphasis across the accounts is Ryan’s stated link between economic position and security strategy.

The additional account frames China’s economic influence and Lebanese Hezbollah’s presence as concerns, while the Army Times account highlights a proposed expansion of the US military footprint in Central and South America. The accounts do not provide details that reconcile these emphases or explain how the military expansion would address the economic objective.

The remarks were made at the annual meeting, but the accounts do not specify the calendar date of the panel. They also do not report a decision, funding commitment, deployment schedule, or response from the People’s Republic of China or Lebanese Hezbollah.

The documented event is Ryan’s presentation of economic dominance as a security priority and his stated concerns; the operational steps, if any, remain unspecified in these accounts.