The new U.S. National Security Strategy marks an epochal shift — a world radically different from the one that has shaped the last eight decades. It is essential for Europe to analyze it cool-headedly and confront it with clarity. Yet before we dive into the NSS, one urgent issue defines Europe’s future: the war in Ukraine. We will only be capable of facing the world Trump envisions if we manage to secure a just peace in the European country most devastated and sacrificed since World War II.
By Danilo TAINO
There are moments when we must not allow emotions to dominate us. The reactions across many EU countries to the recently published U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) — understandably alarmed — have been intense. The document indeed contains deeply worrying positions for Europeans. However, perhaps the text has not been fully examined with the necessary calm and rationality. Certain points require grounding in facts, because emotions can push us toward conclusions we might regret tomorrow — such as believing that Europe has definitively “lost” America.
First. Every U.S. president drafts and publishes his own security strategy. The 30-page document approved by Trump signals a fundamental shift in America’s global posture compared to the last eighty years:
- a less active America in many regions,
- a focus on its own continent and the Western Hemisphere,
- a critical view of Europe, which it sees as having lost its Western bearings,
- a purely transactional logic devoid of idealism,
- and a unilateral policy prioritizing exclusively American interests.
Yet this remains a strategic orientation document. Decisions taken in Washington on a case-by-case basis will not necessarily mirror its text.
We should be concerned — but the NSS must be seen for what it is: a document. Moreover, it’s unclear whether Trump will follow it literally. Some believe he hasn’t even read it, and that it reflects the views of the most MAGA wing of his administration, particularly VP JD Vance. Better to judge the administration by its actions, not its intentions on paper.
Second. A new U.S. strategic posture will bring immediate and long-term consequences. Over the next three years, Trump will reshape everything he can; and politics after him will not simply restore the previous order. Still, a future president from outside the MAGA orbit could steer relations with Europe in a less confrontational direction.
Third. The United States remains a democratic nation — troubled, divided, yet built on solid constitutional foundations and sustained by a population that, in its majority, holds liberal values (in the European sense). Trump indeed puts all this at risk. Europe might be tempted to replace the transatlantic alliance with a special partnership with China — a disastrous idea. Such a move would place Europe directly into the orbit of an authoritarian power, economically and politically coercive. And it would also position Europe against a powerful adversary: the United States itself.
Fourth. It is noteworthy — and troubling — that Trump’s strategy and actions treat European allies harshly while sparing China, Russia, and other illiberal regimes. Yet reading this solely as “betrayal” is a mistake. Two ideological pillars underpin Washington’s stance:
- The U.S. no longer wishes to interfere in undemocratic national regimes.
- The White House seeks a united Western front — Europe and America — to counter immigration, progressive cultural trends, and “woke” phenomena.
The NSS explicitly states that every nation has the right to choose its own system of government without Western interference. Meanwhile, it asks the West to defend “traditional values” — the ideological meeting point between Trump and Putin. From here also stems Washington’s political support for Europe’s far-right parties.
Fifth. In Trump’s logic, Russia is not an imperial Eurasian threat — it is the easternmost extension of the Christian West. To “bring Moscow back into the Western fold” (reintegrating it into the G8), Washington seems prepared to impose on Ukraine an unacceptable ceasefire and to grant Putin de facto amnesty for the crimes of 2022. This would sacrifice Kyiv and create an earthquake inside the EU. In many ways, this destabilization has already begun.
Sixth. The NSS contains harsh accusations against the European Union. Some are ideological excesses meant to favor Europe’s populist right. But others are issues Europeans must confront — regardless of who points them out:
- the migration crisis, and the inability or unwillingness of many EU states to manage it;
- the overload of EU regulations that suffocate businesses, entrepreneurs, startups, and stifle economic growth.
The new U.S. national security strategy signals an epoch-making change — a world drastically different from the one Europe has known for eighty years. Europe must analyze it rationally and respond strategically.
But before focusing on the NSS, one priority overshadows all others: the war in Ukraine.
Only by achieving a just and lasting peace in the country most battered and sacrificed since World War II can Europe hope to navigate the new global order outlined by Trump.
That is, in truth, priority number one.
(Corriere della Sera)