The U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) released on December 4, 2025, was seen by many as an ideological and substantive shift in U.S. foreign policy that came down on Europe the hardest. The core philosophy of the strategy is “America First”, which is defined by a transactional, non-interventionist, and economically nationalist approach. It redefines threats away from pure military concerns to prioritize mass migration, organized crime, and “hostile foreign incursion,” asserting that domestic strength is the bedrock of national security. The strategy’s primacy of American interests represents a sharp change from NSS 2022 (under the Biden Administration) that outlined the U.S. role in strengthening democracy and preserving peace around the world. Away from a focus on strategic competition with China and Russia which was central to the previous NSS, it focuses on domestic priorities. Furthermore, it shifts the primary geographic focus to the Western Hemisphere, calling for “U.S. dominance through a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine”[1] with the corresponding call for China’s withdrawal from Latin America. While few elements of continuity exist, these sharp breaks from previous U.S. positions necessitate a close examination of the strategy’s implications for the global trajectory of U.S. policy.
