[Salon] Chinese assessment of the Trump national security strategy - Guest Post

[Salon] Chinese assessment of the Trump national security strategy - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/4PTjOSUF0lq through google translate: The New US National Security Report Reflects a Strategic Shift Source: Global Times Author: Li Haidong 12/9/25 - Recently, the US government released a new National Security Strategy report. This report sends a clear signal to the world: the current US administration is planning its foreign and security strategy with guiding principles vastly different from those of the past 30 years. The report replaces the long-dominant globalist ideology with a nationalist stance, explicitly declaring that the US will no longer bear the burden of maintaining world order alone, but will instead shift its strategic focus to consolidating domestic interests and regional dominance, and has made directional adjustments in specific areas such as relations with China. The report sets a distinct policy tone for US domestic and foreign policy in the coming period, and may bring new changes to the global landscape. The new National Security Strategy report first sends a strong signal to the world: this US administration is determined to dismantle and reconstruct the existing domestic and international order. The new strategy abandons the globalist ideology long practiced by the established elite, and instead adopts a strongly nationalist strategic approach, demonstrating a "relatively contractionary" strategic shift compared to the past. The core of nationalism lies in the extreme emphasis on national interests and national identity. Under this ideology, the concept of international cooperation guided by international norms is not valued. In the view of the current US administration, the governing elites who previously advocated globalism are primarily responsible for the current domestic and international difficulties facing the US. Therefore, the US urgently needs to abandon the globalization and free trade framework and principles of globalism, defend core US interests, advocate "America First," and support a new nationalist strategy centered on ensuring the security of US borders, economy, and supply chains. Another specific manifestation of the nationalist characteristics of the new national security report is that the US is once again shifting its global strategic focus back to the Western Hemisphere. Since the introduction of the Monroe Doctrine, the US has always considered North and Latin America as the core of its national interests. As an inherent tradition of US foreign policy, the Monroe Doctrine has had different geographical scopes of application under different interpretations throughout its history. When the principle was first proposed in 1823, its content was to oppose European powers' intervention in the Americas. Subsequently, under the leadership of figures like Theodore Roosevelt, it gradually evolved to guarantee US control over the Western Hemisphere. Later, under Woodrow Wilson, the US's regional leadership, initially confined to the Western Hemisphere, gradually expanded globally. During this period, the scope of the "Monroe Doctrine" was closely linked to US foreign expansion, reflecting the trajectory of its global strategy. Today, the "Trump interpretation" of the "Monroe Doctrine" clearly reflects a return of its application from a global scope back to the Western Hemisphere. Given that US political figures generally believe the "Monroe Doctrine" grants the US "police power" in American affairs, this may mean more frequent US intervention in the affairs of American countries. Underneath its strong nationalist characteristics, the new National Security Strategy report shows significant changes in its strategic assessment of China compared to previous reports. Compared to the 2017 and 2021 National Security Strategy reports, the new report's understanding of China is more calm and rational. The report points out that the relationship between the US and China, initially established on the basis of "one being a mature and wealthy economy and the other one of the world's poorest countries," has now evolved into a "nearly equal relationship." Based on this assessment, the report further states that the US will adjust its economic relationship with China based on the principle of reciprocity and equality. It is important to note that the ultimate goal of adjusting economic relations with China is to "revitalize the US's economic autonomy." This shows that the fundamental tone of the US's strategic competition with China has not changed. In other words, against the backdrop of a long-term US-China economic interdependence, the intensity of "coexistent competition" between the US and China in the economic field may gradually increase. In addition, the report repeatedly emphasizes the position of establishing independent and autonomous supply chains in critical resource areas related to national defense and security. This may also indicate potential risks of "decoupling and supply chain disruption" between the US and China in the global industrial chain layout and supply chain construction process; the US's insistence on maintaining absolute leadership in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and space may further escalate the competition between the US and China in the technological field. Overall, the new National Security Strategy report comprehensively demonstrates the strategic direction of the current U.S. administration under its nationalist logic: attempting to maintain its influence in the context of shifting power dynamics by focusing on core interests, consolidating strategic power, and reallocating strategic resources. While this strategic shift reflects a degree of rationality, the underlying strategic thinking—great power competition, regional hegemony, and technological privilege—remains largely unchanged, essentially a case of "new wine in old bottles." Its distinct anti-globalization stance, pursuit of regional hegemony, and efforts to maintain regional balance are likely to encounter more setbacks as they are translated into concrete domestic and foreign policies. (The author is a professor at the Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University)