The White House has unveiled a stark new vision for America's role in the world, with a National Security Strategy that warns European allies face 'civilisational erasure' and could become 'unrecognisable in 20 years or less'.
A Dramatic 'America First' Refocus
Published on Saturday 6 December 2025, the 33-page document formally articulates President Donald Trump's dramatic strategic pivot, upending decades of bipartisan foreign policy. It argues that previous American strategy went 'astray' and seeks to reframe US interests as far narrower than at any time in its modern history.
The strategy explicitly moves away from America acting as the arbiter of a democratic, rules-based global order. 'The affairs of other countries are our concern only if their activities directly threaten our interests,' the paper states, marking a clear departure from the 'iron-clad' commitments to allies outlined in President Joe Biden's 2022 strategy.
Stark Warnings for Europe and NATO
The document is particularly critical of Europe, issuing severe warnings about mass migration and its political direction. It predicts that, should current trends continue, 'certain NATO members will become majority non-European' within a few decades.
It questions whether some European nations will retain economies and militaries strong enough to be reliable US allies. The strategy pledges that American diplomacy will seek to support 'patriotic European parties' to help Europe 'remain European' and regain 'civilisational self-confidence'—a notable break from the principle of non-interference in allies' politics.
On Ukraine, the document criticises European officials for holding 'unrealistic expectations' while perched in 'unstable minority governments'.
Shifting Global Priorities
The strategy outlines a wholesale reordering of US global engagement:
- Middle East: America will 'shift away' from the region as a 'burden', viewing it instead as a source of international investment.
- Western Hemisphere: The US will reassert the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence and deny strategic assets to non-hemispheric competitors.
- Africa: Policy focus should be on trade, not 'providing and spreading liberal ideology'.
- China: The goal is 'economic vitality' through a balanced relationship, underpinned by maintaining preeminent military strength for deterrence.
This new strategy, fundamentally different from the one President Trump published in 2017, places the necessity of trade above the imposition of democratic values, seeking commercial relations 'without imposing... social change' on other nations.
