US faces ‘increasingly fragile world order’: spy chiefs

US intelligence agencies said on Monday the country faces an "increasingly fragile world order," strained by great power competition, transnational challenges and regional conflicts, in a report released as agency leaders testified in Congress.   

"An ambitious but anxious China, a confrontational Russia, some regional powers, such as Iran, and more capable non-state actors are challenging longstanding rules of the international system as well as US primacy within it," the agencies said in their 2024 Annual Threat Assessment.

China is providing economic and security assistance to Russia as it wages war in Ukraine, by supporting Russia's industrial base, the report said. It also warned that China could use technology to try to influence this year's US elections.

In her testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines urged lawmakers to approve more military assistance for Ukraine.

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, like Haines, said continuing support for Ukraine would send a message to China about aggression toward Taiwan or in the South China Sea.

Haines noted concerns that the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas could spread global insecurity. "The crisis in Gaza is a stark example of how regional developments have the potential of broader and even global implications," Haines said.

She noted attacks by Houthi militias on shipping and said the militant groups al-Qaeda and ISIS "inspired by Hamas" have directed supporters to conduct attacks against Israeli and US interests.

After a protester interrupted the hearing with shouts about the need to protect civilians in Gaza, Burns was asked about children in the Palestinian enclave.

"The reality is that there are children who are starving. They're malnourished ... It's very difficult to distribute humanitarian assistance effectively unless you have a ceasefire," he said.