"Potential adversary" means anyone that may not acquiesce to the requests of our government, and/or form military partnerships with rival major powers. Every n

"Potential adversary" means anyone that may not acquiesce to the requests of our government, and/or form military partnerships with rival major powers. Every nation thinks about defense in the same semi-paranoid (or "neorealist") mindset. It's a consequence of a dangerous existence in an purely anarchic system.