National security strategy

Purpose of NSS

• signals priorities to the U.S. national security bureaucracy.

• communicates intentions and assumptions to allies and adversaries.

• articulates a worldview: how decision-makers understand power, order, and risk.

Importance of 2025 NSS

Re-definition of what US leadership means and what it no longer means

Polarized debate regarding NSS

• Those arguing that the document reflects long-standing realities and a long-overdue correction in US strategy

• Those who sees it as a strategic alarm bell, especially for Europe and parts of Asia.

• Big shift from Biden NSS which was focused on democracy vs autocracy

Trump NSS

• America first foreign policy doctrine

• Foreign policy guided by power, prosperity and national advantage

• End of the US as primary guarantor or the global order

• Allies are expected to assume primary responsibilities for their own regional security

• China is identified as a near-peer competitor and the central long-term strategic challenge

• A new Monroe Doctrine–style approach asserts U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere and pushes China out of Latin America

• Russia is treated less as an ideological adversary and more as a transactional power

• Indo-pacific as top priority

• Economic security is central to national security

• The strategy prioritizes reindustrialization, supply-chain control, energy dominance, and access to critical minerals

• Diplomacy is explicitly tied to promoting American business interests abroad

• Abandons concept of rule-based international order

• International norms are secondary to national power

• Overall, the strategy signals a more unilateral, competitive, and transactional global order

Biden-Harris NSS

• World shaped by strategic competition and shared global challenges

• Competition between democracies vs autocracies

• US leadership as essential to shaping a stable, open and rule-based international order

• China as long-term competitor

• Russia as an immediate threat to Europe

• The strategy emphasizes “investing at home” as the foundation of U.S. power abroad

• Economic strength, supply chain resilience, industrial policy, and technological leadership are core security priorities

• Climate change, pandemics, and food insecurity are treated as national security threats

• Alliances and partnerships are central to U.S. strategy

• NATO, Indo-Pacific alliances, and partnerships with democratic and non-democratic states alike are strengthened to address shared interests

• Democracy promotion, human rights and rule of law as strategic assets

• Support for civil society and democratic institutions remains a key tool of U.S. influence

• Deterrence is modernized across nuclear, conventional, cyber, and space domains

• The U.S. seeks to prevent conflict while maintaining military superiority

• The NSS promotes cooperation where possible—including with rivals—on transnational challenges

• Overall, the strategy presents a vision of sustained U.S. global engagement, alliance-based leadership, and long-term competition grounded in democratic values

Europe view on the Trump NSS

• Trump administration prioritizes U.S.–Russia ties and seeks to weaken and divide Europe

• Trump repeatedly sides with Russia on Ukraine, despite European efforts to appease him

• Europe increasingly faces insecurity from both Russia in the east and the U.S. under Trump in the west

• The administration supports far-right European forces that undermine EU unity and align with Moscow

• Europe’s appeasement and flattery of Trump have failed to protect Ukraine or the transatlantic relationship

• Many European governments now recognize that Ukraine is central to Europe’s security

• Europe holds major leverage: frozen Russian assets, effective sanctions, economic support, and most military aid to Ukraine

• The U.S. remains critical for intelligence and weapons, leaving Europe dependent and vulnerable

• Increased European defense spending often deepens reliance on U.S. arms

• Europe lacks strategic focus and political courage, especially on using frozen Russian assets

• To prevent Ukraine’s defeat, Europe must act independently, accept responsibility for the war effort, and ask the U.S. only for intelligence support and weapons access

•   Long-term European security requires resolve, unity, and willingness to confront uncomfortable risks

US foreign policy NSS

• Major shift to America First policy

• Guided by power and prosperity and not democratic promotion

• Democracy and human rights are treated as optional rather than central goals

• The strategy favors noninterference and working with authoritarian regimes if interests align

• This shift may bring short-term gains but risks long-term global fragmentation and U.S. weakness

• Divergence from European values

• The document criticizes Europe for cultural decline, migration, and loss of identity

• China is both reassured and challenged by the strategy

• Beijing welcomes U.S. commitments to sovereignty and noninterference

• The strategy adopts a tougher, more confrontational stance toward China than past policies

• The NSS emphasizes economic nationalism, reindustrialization, and securing critical resources

• U.S. diplomacy is explicitly tied to promoting American business interests abroad

• The U.S. signals a new Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere

• Critics warn the rhetoric is extreme and internally contradictory

• De-emphasizing alliances, democracy, and global leadership could weaken long-term U.S. influence

• Sustained peace and prosperity historically depended on U.S. investment in alliances and institutions

Implications for Asia regarding NSS

• The U.S. reaffirms opposition to any single power dominating Asia, reassuring states wary of China

• Trump’s sovereignty-first, transactional approach aligns with Asia’s preference for national autonomy

• Many Asian governments welcome pragmatism over rules-based or - The NSS recognizes China as a near-peer competitor while leaving room for economic engagement

• Non-allies like India gain opportunities to assume greater regional leadership 

• Abandoning the rules-based order weakens protections for smaller Asian states

• U.S. pressure on Ukraine raises fears about future U.S. resolve against Chinese territorial expansion

• Retreat from liberal values disappoints civil society and dissident movements in Asia

• Tensions between U.S.–China economic ties and security competition remain unresolved

• Rising Chinese power may undermine U.S. military superiority and alliance cohesion

• Greater burden-sharing demands could push some allies toward destabilizing security choices, including nuclear options

• Ambiguity over U.S. commitments—especially regarding Taiwan—creates uncertainty rather than reassurance

• Face a greater strategic risk than Europe due to Chinas dominance

• The NSS offers a conditional U.S. partnership for states willing to assume greater regional security responsibility

• Asian governments should pragmatically engage these opportunities while hedging against U.S. unpredictability