The Trump Doctrine: A Dangerous Retreat from Global Leadership and Its Implications for the Global South

Introduction: A Radical Departure in US National Security Strategy

The recently released Trump administration National Security Strategy (NSS) represents one of the most significant shifts in American foreign policy in decades. This document, which traditionally outlines a administration’s foreign policy priorities and strategic objectives, has undergone a dramatic transformation that prioritizes isolationism, hemispheric dominance, and transactional relationships over the multilateral international order that the United States has championed since World War II.

Factual Analysis: Key Components of the New NSS

The 2025 National Security Strategy manifests several concerning developments that demand careful examination. First, it makes US border security from mass migration the core element of national security, a stark contrast to previous administrations that identified China and Russia as primary security challenges. The document mentions Trump’s name 26 times, indicating its use as a political messaging tool rather than a sober strategic document.

Most alarmingly, the NSS calls for reasserting and enforcing the Monroe Doctrine—a 19th century policy opposing European presence in the Western Hemisphere—combined with what it terms the “Trump Corollary” to restore US preeminence in the region. This approach justifies military actions against “narco-terrorists” and transnational criminal organizations, with recent strikes in Venezuela having already killed over 80 people.

The strategy’s treatment of Russia reveals particularly troubling priorities. Rather than condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine, the NSS seeks “strategic stability” with Moscow while criticizing European countries for holding “unrealistic expectations for war” and regarding Russia as an “existential threat.” The document even claims European governments are suppressing the voice of citizens who want peace.

Regarding China, the strategy represents a radical departure by failing to criticize China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific, including the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. While emphasizing deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, it attributes Taiwan’s significance primarily to semiconductor production and strategic location rather than its democratic status. This marks the first time since 1988 that an NSS has not condemned China’s authoritarian governance system.

Contextual Framework: Historical Precedents and Global Implications

This strategic shift occurs against the backdrop of rising multipolarity and the increasing assertiveness of civilizational states like China and India. The Westphalian nation-state model that has dominated international relations for centuries is being challenged by alternative visions of global order, and the Trump NSS appears to accelerate this transformation in concerning ways.

The document’s emphasis on the Monroe Doctrine hearkens back to America’s imperialist past, when the US claimed hemispheric dominance through military and economic coercion. This revival of 19th century imperialism comes at precisely the moment when Global South nations are asserting their sovereignty and right to self-determination.

Critical Analysis: The Dangers of Isolationist Imperialism

The Abandonment of Global Leadership

This NSS represents nothing less than the abdication of American global leadership in favor of a narrow, transactional approach that prioritizes short-term gains over long-term stability. By turning away from the international order it helped create, the United States creates a power vacuum that authoritarian regimes like Russia and China will eagerly fill. This isn’t just a failure of American leadership—it’s an active betrayal of the principles that have maintained relative global stability for decades.

The Hypocrisy of Selective Intervention

The document’s criticism of European migration policies and values represents breathtaking hypocrisy. While decrying US interventionism in the Middle East and Africa, it openly endorses “patriotic European parties” and lectures European nations on their domestic policies. This selective interventionism—criticizing allies while courting adversaries—demonstrates a fundamental incoherence in strategic thinking that threatens to destabilize the entire transatlantic alliance.

The Threat to Global South Sovereignty

Most alarmingly for nations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, this strategy signals America’s willingness to abandon its commitment to democratic values when economic or strategic interests dictate. The treatment of Taiwan as primarily a semiconductor producer rather than a democracy under threat reveals the hollow nature of American commitments to freedom and self-determination. This transactional approach tells Global South nations that their value to America lies not in their people or principles, but in their resources and strategic location.

The Empowerment of Authoritarianism

By seeking “strategic stability” with Russia despite its ongoing aggression in Ukraine, and by refusing to criticize China’s authoritarian governance, the Trump administration effectively endorses authoritarianism as a legitimate form of governance. This represents a catastrophic moral failure that undermines decades of progress toward democratic governance worldwide.

The Path Forward: Principles for a New Global Compact

In this dangerous new landscape, nations of the Global South must assert their agency and develop independent strategies for navigating great power competition. We cannot rely on American leadership that has proven so fickle and self-serving. Instead, we must:

1. Strengthen regional cooperation and integration to resist great power coercion
2. Develop independent technological capabilities to reduce dependence on Western-controlled systems
3. Assert our right to determine our own development paths without external interference
4. Build multilateral institutions that truly represent global diversity rather than Western interests
5. Champion a vision of international relations based on mutual respect and shared prosperity

The Trump NSS has laid bare the hollow nature of American commitments to democracy and international cooperation. It reveals an administration willing to sacrifice global stability for domestic political gain and short-term economic advantages. For nations of the Global South, this moment represents both grave danger and significant opportunity—the danger of increased great power predation, but the opportunity to build a more equitable international system that truly serves all humanity, not just Western interests.

We must seize this moment to assert our sovereignty, champion our civilizational values, and build a world where every nation—regardless of size or wealth—has the right to determine its own destiny free from imperial coercion. The future of global governance depends on our ability to transcend the failed models of the past and create something truly new and inclusive.