Alexander Gray<\/a>, who served on the National Security Council (NSC) in the first Trump administration.<\/p>\nIn commentary for the Atlantic Council, he said the focus on the Western Hemisphere was \u201crefreshingly frank about the essential objectives of the United States: securing the homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other observers have also suggested that the order of the list is a direct reflection of White House priorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to place a high premium on foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere was no doubt going towards one of their primary domestic priorities, which is to counter immigration,\u201d said Enos.<\/p>\n
Enos said the NSS approach to China was also informed by domestic policy concerns. \u201cIt’s all about reindustrialization. It’s all about economic security,\u201d she said, noting a lack of comment on human rights abuses, for example.<\/p>\n
The NSS is unapologetic on this issue, stating \u201cwe seek good relations and peaceful commercial relations with the nations of the world without imposing on them democratic or other social change.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the NSS aims to \u201crebalance\u201d the economic relationship with China, the paper also makes no mention of Beijing\u2019s alliance with Moscow.<\/p>\n
By contrast, the NDAA calls for US spy agencies to provide \u201can assessment of the military cooperation between Russia and the People\u2019s Republic of China, including defense trade, joint military exercises, and the sharing of military intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both the NSS and the NDAA feature strong support for Taiwan.<\/p>\n
Europe<\/p>\n
The NSS has provoked controversy in Europe, which it says is threatened by \u201ccivilizational erasure.\u201d <\/p>\n
The paper refers to policies in Europe that \u201cundermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence.”<\/p>\n
That language recalls a speech made by Vice President JD Vance in Munich in February, when he blasted Romania for canceling the results of its presidential election and appears to underline US allegations that right-wing parties are not afforded democratic freedoms.<\/p>\n
The paper also condemns Europe for \u201ccensorship of free speech,\u201d possibly also a reference to EU moves against US social media companies.<\/p>\n
US officials have repeatedly raised these issues. <\/p>\n
Ahead of a NATO summit last week, Christopher Landau, US deputy secretary of state, issued an angry response to an EU fine levied against the social media network X.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nations of Europe cannot look to the US for their own security at the same time they affirmatively undermine the security of the US itself through the (unelected, undemocratic, and unrepresentative) EU. This fine is just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen these countries wear their NATO hats, they insist that Transatlantic cooperation is the cornerstone of our mutual security. But when these countries wear their EU hats, they pursue all sorts of agendas that are often utterly averse to US interests,\u201d he wrote later.<\/p>\n
The NSS paper continues to provoke strong reactions in Europe. On December 8, European Council President Antonio Costa accused Washington of an unacceptable \u201cthreat to interfere in European politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
“This strategy continues to talk about Europe as an ally. That’s fine, but if we are allies, we must act as allies,” he added.<\/p>\n
Sam Greene, a Russia analyst at Kings College London, told RFE\/RL \u201cthis strategy marks the beginning of the end of the transatlantic alliance\u2026Europe cannot accept a relationship on the terms the US is offering: one in which the US determines both the contours of European security and the content of European domestic politics, all while demanding burden-sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burden-sharing is a key element of the NSS, reflecting long-standing pressure from the Trump administration for European nations to hike their defense spending.<\/p>\n
US troop reductions in Europe have been expected for several months since it was announced the Pentagon would conduct a Global Force Posture Review, and in October it was announced that hundreds of US troops rotated out of Romania would not be replaced.<\/p>\n
The NDAA offers hope for anxious Europeans, demanding US troops remain at 76,000 and barring the withdrawal of equipment worth $500,000 or more.<\/p>\n
Russia, Ukraine<\/p>\n
The NDAA also foresees US support continuing to shore up the militaries of the Baltic States — Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia \u2013 to deter \u201caggression by the Russian Federation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with other elements, it adds to a clear sense of countering a Russian military threat in the bill, which has bipartisan support and also the backing of House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican.<\/p>\n
The NSS does not refer to Russia as a threat or adversary, unlike in previous versions of the strategy — which has raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you need to have private conversations between Russia and the US about things in order to assuage (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or to stroke his ego, fine,\u201d Enos said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut to publicly message what I would perceive as a softening\u2026is very concerning. To me, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, they should all be kind of in the same bucket of adversaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Cattler<\/a>, who held a series of senior roles at both NATO and US intelligence agencies, noted in an analysis that the White House strategy \u201csuggests that Russia\u2019s behavior, while dangerous, is ultimately malleable through engagement.\u201d<\/p>\nThe NSS does note that Europe perceives Russia as a threat — and emphasizes efforts to seek peace in Ukraine both as a means to \u201creestablish strategic stability with Russia\u201d and enable Ukraine\u2019s \u201csurvival as a viable state.\u201d<\/p>\n
This echoes many positions taken during talks on ending Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Recent proposals envisaged lifting sanctions on Russia, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared the aim of a deal was Ukraine\u2019s \u201clong-term prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NSS brings several trends to convergence,\u201d wrote Cattler.<\/p>\n
\u201cA softer US characterization of Russia, a preference for rapid stabilization in Ukraine, and unprecedented expectations of European self-reliance. None are entirely new, but together they accelerate a transition into a more fragmented international order.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two key documents released in Washington in recent days present differing foreign policy paths, giving US allies and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2664,42,43,6803,1593,48087,40,38,41,39,1594],"class_list":{"0":"post-175419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-features","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-news-analysis","12":"tag-russia","13":"tag-the-rundown-stories","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories","18":"tag-ukraine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}