Former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney on Monday said the world today faced the most complicated security situation since the Second World War and globalisation might have to take a back seat as the Donald Trump administration would focus on political and national security compulsions.

Referring to rising nuclear proliferation risks from countries like Iran and North Korea, with the latter having doubled its uranium enrichment capability, Mr. Cheney said one of his big concerns was that there would be a major terror attack not just using airliners and bombs, but weapons of mass destruction as there was a threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terror groups.

Mr. Cheney, who served from 2001 to 2009 with former U.S. President George Bush, slammed the eight years of Democrat president Barack Obama’s administration for having weakened the military with budget cuts.

“If you look at the recent testimony of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defence last week in front of a Senate Committee, it’s very clear that the consequences of eight years of the Obama administration have been devastating for the U.S. military,” said Mr. Cheney.

“Part of our problem is the fact that these rising threats all around us, if you look at it, have occurred or are occurring at a time that our military has significantly… if you look at the state of the U.S. security after 8 years of Obama administration, the budget cuts then imposed have been very, very serious. We will now see in the budget to be tabled in the weeks ahead how do we allocate more money to our military,” he said, terming the rebuilding of the U.S. military a key challenge for the Trump administration.

“I personally believe this is the most challenging security situation and the most complicated group of threats that we have seen since the end of World War II and I think as we go forward, over the course of the next several months and years, it makes good sense to be concerned about globalisation,” Mr. Cheney warned.

“It is important to continue with the benefits that we all derive from the growth of the world economy but we must keep in mind the situation we are in — the political circumstances, the national security circumstances, the military, proliferation of nuclear weapons, terrorist groups, the situation in North Korea and Russia, etcetera, I am afraid they will increasingly be a dominant part of the debate in the United States and have a role in the policies that the Trump administration will pursue,” said the American politician, who was born in Nebraska.