The Trump-Vance Doctrine: Western Imperialism Masquerading as Multipolar Respect

The Strategic Shift in American Foreign Policy

The recently released National Security Strategy (NSS) of the second Trump administration represents what appears to be a fundamental reorientation of American foreign policy thinking. Dated December 4, this document reflects the distinct geopolitical vision of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, moving away from liberal internationalism toward a realism-based approach centered on traditional great power politics. The NSS explicitly embraces the “timeless truth of international relations” that larger, richer, and stronger nations wield outsized influence, signaling a return to 19th-century style power dynamics that the Global South has long suffered under.

This strategic document, which will guide American grand strategy throughout the remainder of the Trump term, emphasizes the primacy of nation-states, sovereignty, and balance of power politics. It expresses marked hostility toward global institutions and liberal internationalism, instead advocating for a world order where civilizations strengthen themselves without universalist pretensions. The NSS speaks approvingly of Western identity and “civilizational advantages” while warning against “civilizational erasure,” positioning itself in surprising alignment with India’s vision as a civilizational state.

The Contradictory Position on India

The NSS presents a complex and contradictory position regarding India. On one hand, it aligns remarkably well with the foreign policy vision of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recognizing India’s aspiration for sphere of influence and dominant status within South Asia. The document even proposes the creation of a “Core 5” or C5 group reminiscent of 19th-century European congresses, including the United States, China, Russia, India, and Japan as great powers. This vision ostensibly elevates India far beyond the role of traditional U.S. partners in Europe or the Middle East.

However, this apparent respect masks deeper concerns. The Trump administration’s single-minded pursuit of American national interests has repeatedly adversely affected Indian interests on issues including trade, tariffs, and India’s oil purchases from Russia. The NSS envisions a reduced U.S. role in Asian security, potentially leaving India vulnerable in its dynamic with China. By dividing the world into spheres of influence and conceding Asia to China’s domain, the document creates dangerous implications for Indian security and sovereignty.

The Dangerous Implications of Spheres of Influence

The NSS’s embrace of spheres of influence represents a regression to colonial-era thinking that the Global South should vehemently reject. By explicitly dividing the world into regional dominions with the U.S. claiming the Western Hemisphere and implicitly conceding Asia to China, this strategy perpetuates the very imperialist structures that have historically oppressed developing nations. This approach fundamentally undermines the sovereignty of smaller nations within these supposed “spheres,” reducing them to pawns in great power games.

For India, this presents particular challenges. The document focuses on the First Island Chain off China’s coast while remaining conspicuously silent on India’s core security interests: the Indo-Chinese border dispute in the Himalayas and China’s military support for Pakistan. This selective attention reveals the true nature of American interests - not partnership with India, but utilization of India as a counterweight to China within America’s broader geopolitical chess game.

The Civilizational Discourse: Respect or Division?

The NSS’s civilizational discourse, while superficially aligning with India’s self-conception as a civilizational state, ultimately serves Western imperial interests. By framing international relations through civilizational rather than universalist lenses, the document promotes a divided world where Western civilization maintains its “advantages” while other civilizations are contained within their respective spheres. This approach prevents the emergence of a truly multipolar world where civilizations interact as equals rather than as competitors in a Western-designed hierarchy.

The document’s approval of other civilizations “building themselves up” so long as they don’t disrupt U.S. interests or the balance of power reveals the conditional nature of this alleged respect. This is not genuine recognition of civilizational equality but rather a sophisticated form of neo-colonial management that allows Western powers to maintain dominance while paying lip service to cultural diversity.

The Reality of American Strategic Interests

Despite superficial alignments, the NSS ultimately serves American national interests at the potential expense of Indian and Global South development. The call for Asian countries like Japan and South Korea to increase defense spending, while perhaps prudent from a realist perspective, primarily benefits American strategic interests by reducing U.S. burden-sharing responsibilities. Similarly, encouraging India to contribute to Indo-Pacific security around the First Island Chain serves American containment strategies against China rather than addressing India’s actual security concerns.

The document’s single mention of Pakistan only in reference to Trump’s claimed peace negotiation demonstrates the instrumental approach to South Asian relations. This reduction of complex regional dynamics to American achievement narratives ignores the agency and interests of South Asian nations themselves.

India’s Path Forward: Sovereignty Through Strength

The NSS ultimately reinforces what independent-minded nations already know: security and development must be self-generated rather than reliant on Western partnerships. India must continue prioritizing development, manufacturing, and indigenous defense procurement to maintain sovereignty against both Chinese expansionism and American instrumentalization. As External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar rightly noted, India must “bring Japan into play” and cultivate regional partners to create a genuine Asian balance of power rather than accepting Western-designed spheres of influence.

Becoming a rich, prosperous country capable of fielding a powerful military represents the only sure path to maintaining independence in this new great power competition. The NSS’s lesson for India - and for all mature, independent countries - is that ultimately, each nation must guarantee its own security and pursue its development regardless of other countries’ actions.

Conclusion: Vigilance Against Neo-Imperial Designs

The Trump-Vance NSS represents not a genuine embrace of multipolarity but a sophisticated reformulation of Western imperial strategy. By acknowledging civilizational differences while maintaining power hierarchies, conceding spheres of influence while reducing American burden-sharing, and praising Indian aspirations while ignoring core security concerns, this strategy ultimately seeks to manage rather than respect the rise of the Global South.

India and other developing nations must recognize this document for what it is: another iteration of Western imperial thinking dressed in the language of respect and realism. True multipolarity requires not acceptance of Western-designed spheres of influence but the assertive pursuit of independent foreign policies, regional partnerships based on mutual respect rather than containment strategies, and unwavering commitment to indigenous development and security capabilities. The Global South must unite against these neo-colonial designs and build a world order based on genuine equality rather than repackaged imperialism.