The new US National Security Strategy respects those who stood up to Washington, but expects vassals to keep obeying

The US, currently still the single most militarily powerful country in the world, has issued a new National Security Strategy (NSS). As this is the US, what makes Washington feel safer is making quite a few governments around the world feel less secure.

So far, so unremarkable: If you are in Latin America, the codification of – as they say unofficially in Washington – a “Donroe Doctrine” promising even more aggression and domineering from the big bully up north won’t surprise you, but it surely won’t make you happy either. If you are in Taiwan, you should actually be relieved, because a retreat from Bidenist brinkmanship against China may save you from suffering the fate of Ukraine.

But as this is Trump 2.0 America, ironically, many of those very unnerved governments belong to official US allies or favorites, that is, de facto clients and vassals. And that – to make things even more curious – is a good thing. Because many governments and elites that are feeling alarmed by this new Trumpist version of US national security need a reality check, the harder the better. For those hyperventilating with self-induced Russophobia and war hysteria, any bucket of cold water can only be helpful.

Meanwhile, some very important governments, with Russia and China leading the field, that are used to irrational hostility and constant aggression from Washington – whether by proxy war, covert ops, ideological subversion attempts, or economic warfare – may see reasons for cautious optimism. Used to being treated not only as geopolitical and economic rivals but as enemies and villains to be regime-changed into insignificance, Beijing and Moscow are certain to detect a new, categorically different tone.

Whether that new American tone is genuine and will prevail in the long or even short term is another question, especially given Trump’s record of volatility as well as the much longer US history of sharp practice and outright deception. Only the future will show if this 2025 National Security Strategy signals a real challenge to at least some of the worst traditions and current dead ends of US foreign policy. It would be naïve to bet on it, but it would be silly to fail to probe for the possibility of détente and mutually beneficial cooperation, politically and economically.