Whatever European officials say about it, US President Donald Trump's new National Security Strategy (NSS) is good news for Europe. Europe and the rest of the world can now clearly see how little this US administration values their interests - and they can no longer pretend otherwise.
The NSS is not about values. It is not about supporting democracy. It is not about defending principles that Europeans have not even questioned since the end of World War II. It is about a projection of power that is supposed to reflect American economic interests. Period.
In foreign policy terms, such a power allocation is based on a transactional principle that should benefit Americans and authoritarian regimes. For the latter, conditionality has taken on a new meaning: deliver goods and ensure stability - not human rights (and often sermonizing), which is the European criterion. As the NSS states: “The United States will prioritize commercial diplomacy.”
In practice, this means that countries in the Middle East and elsewhere can pursue their own traditions, religions, and cultures as long as they do not threaten the United States. As the NSS states: “The key to successful relations with the Middle East is to accept the region, its leaders, and its countries as they are, while working together on areas of mutual interest.”
This is also not bad news for technologically advanced Taiwan, which remains crucial to American AI companies but is also vulnerable to arms-rattling from China. “Deterring conflict over Taiwan, ideally by maintaining military superiority, is a priority,” the NSS said. “The United States does not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.”
The situation is different for Europe - America's post-war ally and the backbone of the Western alliance during the Cold War. The part of the NSS that deals with Europe does not soften the tone at all.
The strategy openly confirms the United States' disinterest in NATO, which it states is not an "ever-expanding alliance," a formulation that will appeal to Russia, which strongly opposes any further expansion, and disappoint Ukraine and other countries aspiring to membership.
The NSS calls on Europe to assume “primary responsibility for its own defense, without being dominated by any hostile power.” It is not specified who that potential hostile power might be.
The strategy reveals an obsession with identity politics, framed through the far-right civilizational discourse that is now shared by much of the Trump administration. It states that it is more than likely that “within a few decades, at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European.” Does that mean non-white or identity-inconsistent with Europe?
The intention to withdraw from NATO commitments is confirmed by a recent report from a Pentagon meeting, in which US officials reportedly told the Europeans that they must take over most of NATO's conventional defense capabilities - from intelligence to missile systems - by 2027. The plan to free the US from responsibilities in Europe will no doubt also be visible in the upcoming National Defense Strategy, the main guidelines of which were outlined in a recent speech by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The NSS accuses Europeans of “lacking self-confidence” in relation to Russia. European allies, it says, “have a significant hard power advantage over Russia by almost all measures except nuclear,” even though “many Europeans view Russia as an existential threat.” The United States could help “reestablish conditions for strategic stability on the Eurasian landmass.”
And that is precisely what irritates Europe. The strategy states that the “core interest” of the United States is to “re-establish strategic stability with Russia, as well as to facilitate the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine so that it can survive as a viable state.” Most Europeans are not convinced of the sincerity of this statement, nor do they support the implicit calls for a European security architecture that includes Russia. They see it as a long-standing ambition of the Kremlin to distance Europe from Washington and weaken NATO.
The strategy reveals an obsession with identity politics, framed through the far-right civilizational discourse that is now shared by much of the Trump administration. It states that it is more than likely that “within a few decades, at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European.” Does that mean non-white or identity-inconsistent with Europe?
The document does advocate Europe—just not the liberal, diverse Europe that most of the EU continues to promote. The Americans, however, “want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence, and to abandon its failed focus on regulatory strangulation.” In a combative tone, the strategy then condemns “the activities of the European Union and other supranational bodies that undermine political freedoms and sovereignty, the migration policies that are reshaping the continent and creating tensions, the censorship of free speech and the suppression of political opposition, the plummeting birth rates, and the loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
Yes, Europe does lack self-confidence. Yes, it lacks a security and strategic vision. Yes, it has relied for too long on the United States as a guarantor of security. Yes, it has failed to listen to the complaints of the far right. Yet its leadership, whether in the institutions or in the member states, does not dare to take a step forward to confront these major problems that mark the post-Cold War era. These failures make Europe a weaker and less credible global actor. This is why the criticisms of the NSS are reduced to mere rhetoric.
In the context of this weakness, it is hardly surprising that Trump—and especially his vice president, J.D. Vance—is determined to further weaken Europe. This administration sees Europe as a threat, if not a competitor, no matter how incompetent. Vance’s contempt for the European democratic system and its values, coupled with his open support for far-right movements, threatens American meddling that undermines the very essence of the Western alliance. It is a message to which Europe has no choice but to respond.
carnegieendowment.org
Translation: A. Š.
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