Dr. Emad Al-Hammadin

Last week, the White House released an important document outlining the new U.S. national security priorities under President Trump.

The newly issued American strategy, long-awaited, represents a fundamental shift in how the United States views the world and the mechanisms through which it engages with it. This document establishes a clear framework based on the principle of “America First,” signalling a deliberate departure from many of the traditional policies that have shaped U.S. strategic doctrine for decades. It clearly defines what the United States expects from the world and outlines the priorities that will guide its actions in the coming phase, moving away from wide-scale interventions and attempts to manage or control conflicts across various global arenas. Instead, the strategy emphasises intervention only when core American interests are directly threatened.

The document also adopts an unprecedentedly critical tone toward European allies and the European Union, particularly regarding the trajectory of the war in Ukraine and the failure of European governments to entrench concepts of nationalism and patriotism as foundations of political leadership. The new strategy appears to favour an ideologically right-leaning approach that elevates national identity and patriotic sentiment, even at the expense of cultural and social diversity—values that have long been central to Western discourse.

Regarding global competitors, the document reveals a notable shift in U.S. perspectives toward major powers. China, previously framed as a strategic adversary, is now treated primarily as an economic competitor whose influence must be contained by curbing its commercial expansion, especially within the Western Hemisphere. In this context, the strategy revives President Monroe’s 1823 doctrine—which called for keeping the Americas free of European colonial influence—and uses it today to assert that both continents constitute an exclusive strategic sphere for the United States.

Through this renewed invocation of the Monroe Doctrine, Washington seeks to block any political, economic, or intelligence presence of foreign powers in the Americas, whether from states or multinational corporations. In doing so, it sends a clear message to international competitors that this region is its “backyard,” and that foreign influence will not be tolerated. At the same time, it implicitly signals to Latin American nations that the United States is asserting a new form of dominance—not under the banner of the “war on terror” as in the past, but under the pretexts of combating drug trafficking, human smuggling, and illegal migration into the United States.

This approach is presented to the American public as a measure to protect society from foreign influence, restore national economic control, and limit the power of transnational corporations. In this way, the U.S. administration seeks to reassure the American citizen that the new strategy serves domestic priorities and redefines America’s global role in a manner that strengthens national identity and fortifies internal stability before expanding its engagement abroad.

Further analysis of this document will be released soon.

Dr. Emad Al-hammadin, Centre for Strategic Studies CSS-The University of Jordan