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At 7:10 p.m. on the 15th, episode 271 of KBS1 ‘Issue PICK with Sam’ will air under the title ‘Trump Who Opened the Door to War: What New World Map Is He Drawing?’.
Amid rapid upheaval in the international order due to recent military clashes between the United States and Iran, analyses suggest that shifts in U.S. strategy are becoming more apparent. The simultaneous escalation of military tensions in the Middle East and the fact that the United States is placing strategic weight on the Western Hemisphere and the Arctic are assessed as clues to the direction of the new global strategy envisioned by the Trump administration.
In this episode of ‘Issue PICK with Sam’, amid the turbulent international situation of the U.S.-Iran war, the program examines the substance of the world strategy the Trump administration is redrawing through a U.S. sphere-of-influence approach stretching from Venezuela to Greenland.
Ban Gil-Ju, a professor in the Department of International Security and Unification Studies at the National Diplomatic Academy, explained, “Although the clashes between Iran and the United States are shaking the world order, from the perspective of the Trump administration security strategy, this is closer to a short-term objective.” He continued, “The long-term strategic blueprint for a second Trump term is to fortify the Western Hemisphere,” and analyzed, “Paradoxically, the airstrike on Iran shows how strongly the United States seeks to build a new order centered on the Western Hemisphere.”
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Professor Ban also stated, “It is highly likely that the United States will quickly settle regions that are immediate burdens and seek to strengthen its control over the Western Hemisphere, its ‘backyard’.”
In fact, while conducting the operation against Iran, the United States launched a response operation against Ecuadorian drug cartels, and it identified Cuba as the next target and convened the ‘Shield of the Americas Summit’ by inviting Latin American leaders.
On this point, Professor Ban assessed, “If the Monroe Doctrine of the past was at the level of blocking European intervention, today a Trump-style Monroe Doctrine has intensified toward effectively dominating the Western Hemisphere.” Venezuela and Greenland are cited as testing grounds for this U.S. grand strategy.
The Arctic has recently emerged as a new strategic focal point in great-power competition. Whereas the Middle East was once the central stage of international politics centered on oil, recent analyses suggest that the Arctic is emerging as a new strategic space. As global warming advances Arctic melting, the Northern Sea Route is becoming a reality, and if it comes into full use, the maritime distance linking Asia and Europe is expected to be greatly shortened.
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The airstrike on Iran is also becoming a new test for the Atlantic alliance NATO(NATO). As Iran’s ballistic missiles head toward Turkey, discussions continue over whether to invoke Article 5, NATO’s collective defense clause. NATO requires the consent of its 32 member states, including the United States, for the collective defense system to actually operate, and internal debates over this are ongoing.
Professor Ban emphasized, “As uncertainty in the international order grows and military clashes and tests of alliances appear simultaneously, broader solidarity is needed.” He added, “If we build a multilayered diplomatic and security strategy that combines self-reliance, alliances, and solidarity, we can secure a breakthrough to protect national interests and security even in an age of crisis.”
Episode 271 of KBS1 ‘Issue PICK with Sam’, titled ‘Trump Who Opened the Door to War: What New World Map Is He Drawing?’, will air at 7:10 p.m. on March 15, 2026, and after the broadcast it will be available for replay on the KBS website, Wavve(Wavve), and the YouTube channels ‘KBS Culture’ and ‘KBS Documentary’.
