At this point of turbulence, at the start of 2026, the world is facing a strategic dilemma. There has never been more sophistry, more twisting of language and words, as well as real wars, than now. We live in an information age, being surrounded by “information wars”, where narratives that are based on false premises and language, are being spread and accepted by a majority of people. This is accompanied by a lack of “criteria” that could help people to judge what is right or wrong, just or unjust. It is literally like a “Babylonian linguistic confusion”, (not to speak of the decadence of the global Epstein elite network.)
This is the impression which the writer of this article got, when reading the recent US National Security Strategy 25 (NSS 25) study as well as the National Defense Study 2026 (NDS 26), which serve as guideline for the present Trump administration’s foreign, defense and security policy. It also got reflected in the speech given by President Trump and other representative of his government (for example Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent) at this year’s Davos conference as well as the European reactions to this event (Greenland issue f.i.).
The NSS document – how to ensure America’s dominance
Starting with a harsh critique of previous US governments that brought the US into conflicts “that were peripheral and irrelevant to the US”, and undermined the character of the US as a nation, the document focuses on the core interests of American foreign policy:
1. The most important focus is the “Western Hemisphere” and the need to ensure US control over it: “to prevent mass migration to the US. Its governments should cooperate with the US against narco- terrorists, cartels and other transnational criminal organizations.” In other words, “we will assert and enforce a ‘Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine’”, the document emphasizes.
2. Keep the Indo-Pacific free and open, preserving freedom of navigation in all crucial sea lanes and maintaining secure and reliable supply chains and access to critical materials.
3. Support our allies in preserving freedom and security of Europe, while restoring „Europe’s civilizational self- confidence and Western identity.”
4. „Prevent an adversarial power from dominating the Middle East, its oil and gas supplies, and the chokepoints through which they pass while avoiding forever wars that bogs us down in the region at great cost.”
And we want to ensure that U.S. technology and U.S standards – particularly in AI, biotech, and quantum computing – drive the world forward.
Among the key principles that drive American foreign, defense and intelligence policies are:
*“Primacy of Nations”: The world’s fundamental political unit is and will remain the nation state. It is natural and just that all nations put their interests first and guard their sovereignity. The world works best when nations prioritize their interests. “The United States will put our own interests first and, in our relations with other nations, encourage them to prioritize their own interests as well.“ In terms of priorities, the document states that “The era of mass migration is over, since it has strained domestic resources, increased violence and other crime, weakened social cohesion, distorted labor markets, there is need for major border controls.”
* The US will “oppose elite driven anti- democratic restrictions on core liberties in Europe, the Anglosphere and the rest of the democratic world, especially among our allies. Also burden sharing is necessary in terms of 5% GDP for NATO allies where the US is ready to help so as to make more favorable treatment on commercial matter, technology sharing and defense procurement. The US wants to reduce trade deficits, and end dumping practices and other competitive practices that hurt American industries and workers. Secure access to critical minerals and materials while countering predatory practices.” And reindustrialization of emerging technologies is a major focus. “We will do so through the strategic use of tariffs and new technologies that favor widespread industrial production in every corner of our nation, raise living standards for American workers and ensure that our country is never again reliant on any adversary, present or potential, for critical products or components.”
*With it goes the need to “preserving and growing America’s Financial Sector Dominance.” “Preserving and growing our dominance entails leveraging our dynamic free market system and our leadership in digital finances and innovations to ensure that our markets continue to be the most dynamic, liquid and secure and remain the envy of the world.”
The Western Hemisphere. The Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
It is indeed amazing to see how much attention is given by the NSS study to the importance of the Western Hemisphere- which reminds the infamous period of Teddy Roosevelt and his “big stick” policy- since he emphasized that the Western hemisphere is the backyard of the US and that no foreign power is supposed to meddle in this region (a hint at the investment policy of China and Russia in Latin America E.H.). The document explicitly states that “The US will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region. We will deny non -hemispheric competitors (!) the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere. This “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine is a common- sense and potent restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests.” A typical example was demonstrated to the world by the January 2nd provocative and unusual short invasion of the US in Caracas (Venezuela) and the capturing of Venezuelan President Maduro by force, who was brought to the US for being tried by a New York Court.
The document clearly states that the goals of the US for the Western Hemisphere is to win over in the Western Hemisphere new friends that help and assist the US, to control migration and drug traffic on land and sea. “This also implies that the US must reconsider its military presence in the Western Hemisphere (!). Global military presence, suitable coast guard and naval presence to control sea lanes thwart illegal migration drug trafficking and control key transit routes in a crisis. Targeted deployments to secure the border and defat cartels included where necessary ‘the use of lethal force to replace the failed law enforcement only strategy of the last several decades and establishing our expanding access in strategically important locations.”
This region is supposed to become a major market for US investments and this goes in line with the demand that while “we will work to strengthen our security partnerships- from weapon sales to intelligence sharing to joint exercises (…) at the same time, we should make every effort to push out our foreign companies that build infrastructure in the region.” (!)
Asia and the Indo -Pacific is the second major strategic priority for the US
As the NSS further elaborates: “The Indo-Pacific is already the source of almost half of the world’s GDP on purchasing power (PPP), and one third based on nominal GDP. That share is certain to grow over the 21st century, which means that the Indo- Pacific is already and will continue to be among the next century’s key economic and geopolitical battleground.”
In an indirect reference to China the document emphasizes that “this means ending ‘predatory’, state directed subsidies and industrial strategies; unfair trading practices; job destruction and deindustrialization; grand scale intellectual property theft and industrial espionage; threats against our supply chains that risk U.S. access to critical resource, including minerals and rare earth elements; exports of fentanyl precursors that fuel America’s opioid epidemic, and propaganda, influence operations, and other forms of cultural subversion. “
Furthermore “America First diplomacy” seeks to rebalance global trade relationships. „We have made clear to our allies that America’s current account deficit is u n s u s t a i n a b le. We must encourage Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, Canada, Mexico and other prominent nations in adopting trade policies that help rebalance China’s economy toward household consumption, because Sout East Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East cannot any longer absorb China’s enormous excess capacity.”
(…) “The other focus is deterring military threats i.e. focus on Taiwan, because of its semiconductor production. (…) America’s diplomatic efforts should focus on pressing our First Island Chain Allies and partners to allow the U.S. military greater access to their ports and other facilities, to spend more on their own defense and most important to invest in capabilities aimed at deterring aggression.” The study suggests that additional deterrence is necessary to keep those lanes open, free of tolls and not subject to arbitrary closure by one country. This will require further investment in our “military – especially naval – capabilities, but also strong cooperation with every nation that stands to suffer, from India, to Japan and beyond if this problem is not addressed.” Preventing conflict, according to the NSS study, requires a “vigilant posture in the Indo- Pacific, a renewed defense industrial base, greater military investment from ourselves and from allies and partners, and winning the economic and technological competition over the long term.”
Europe, including Russia
Here some interesting observations are made by the NSS study which shed light on the persistent ambiguity which Europe represents for world peace. The NSS document states that Europe has lost a share of global GDP down from 25 % in 1990 to 14% today- partly owing to national and transnational regulations that undermine creativity and industriousness. But worse is, according to the study, the “Civilizational erasure”. The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignity, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self- confidence. “We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self- confidence, and to abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation,” the study states. The NSS study particularly emphasizes: “The lack of self- confidence (which) is most evident in Europe ’s relationship with Russia… As result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, European relations with Russia are now deeply attenuated, and many Europeans regard Russia as an existential threat. (!) Managing European relations with Russia will require significant US diplomatic engagement, both to reestablish conditions of strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass, and to mitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and the European states.” (!)
The study further emphasizes that (…) “A large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments’ subversion of democratic processes (…) Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory. … Our broad policy for Europe should prioritize: Reestablishing conditions of stability within Europe and ‘strategic stability with Russia’(!); enabling Europe to stand on its own feet and operate as a group of aligned sovereign nations, including by taking primary responsibility for it’s own defense, without being dominated by any adversarial power; cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations; opening European markets to US goods and services and ensuring fair treatment of US workers and businesses; building up the healthy nations of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe through commercial ties, weapons sales, political collaboration and cultural and educational exchanges, ending the perception, and preventing the reality of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance “(!)
Europeans ignore Russian Doctrine on the use of nuclear weapon
It is clear that the majority of the European populations want peace. Yet the European elite – in the forefront Germany and NATO Gen. Secretary Mark Rutte (see in particular his speech at European Parliament -Jan 26th – and his recent visit to Kiev) push for a prolongation of the war in Ukraine, with thousands of more victims to be expected. This brings us to the very useful warning of the US political scientist Prof. John Mearsheimer who soberly analyses that Russia – if all avenues for peace are deliberately closed by Europe – could and would use its nuclear weapon against Europe. In an interview (Jan. 31rst 2026) between Prof. Glenn Diesen (Eurasia Studies) and Prof. J. Mearsheimer, the well- known American political scientist emphasized that he has “zero optimism” about ongoing negotiations between Russia- Ukraine and U.S. in Abu Dhabi. That these negotiations will not lead to “real peace.” With the Europeans insisting ever more on “robust security guarantees for Ukraine” and “Ceasefire”, they demand conditions, according to Mearsheimer, that are flatly rejected by Russia. Russia only accepts that the territory of the 4 conquered Oblasts (Donezk/ Luhansk, Saporischja, Cherson) is remaining in Russian hands. For Russia the present posture of Europe in the Ukraine war is an “existential threat.” “The West keeps saying that Putin’s imperialist drive is responsible for the war. We might be entering a new phase of war,” Mearsheimer warned and “Russia sees Ukraine on the ropes. It is possible that by the end of 2026 they still are in war. Russia has large reserve armies. They try to finish off Ukraine by 2026. If they can’t however, there are powerful reasons to use a nuclear weapon, as Russian Professor S. Karaganov has stated numerous times.” According to Mearsheimer Russia should win the war and he expressed hope that Ukraine will be defeated on the battlefield.
A good illustration about the nuclear doctrine of Russia was given in an interview between US journalist Rick Sanchez and Prof. Karaganov (21. of January 2026). Karaganov, the well known former strategic advisor of Brezhnev, Yelzin and for a while also for Putin, presented himself in the interview as someone who “decided to open the question of possible Russian use of nuclear weapons about two and a half or three years ago.” (…) “Because I saw that our European neighbors have gone amok. They have lost the sense of history, have lost the sense of security. They are absolutely irresponsible. And to stop them we have to go up the ladder of escalation, without actual use of nuclear weapons, but we have to be ready for that…And of course we send the signal also to the United States leadership through different channels. And, by the way, Americans have started to withdraw from this bloody conflict with the West in Ukraine- I mean, even before Trump- because they understood that the stakes on our side are very high. Now the question is how to persuade the “insane European elites” to come back to their senses and to withdraw from this conflict.” He underlined that he thought that at this point they are not ready. This is very dangerous given that in Europe, particularly in Germany, nobody takes the Russian nuclear threat serious.”
Foreign Affairs Magazine: „The predatory Hegemon. How Trump wields American power“
A revealing article was published in the American magazine “Foreign Affairs” (March/ April 2026) by Stephen Walt „The predatory hegemon. How Trump wields American power.” Walt makes the interesting analysis whereby the Trump administration could be best described as “Predatory Hegemony” – “Its central aim is to use Washingtons privileged position to extract concessions, tribute, and displays of deference from both allies and adversaries, pursuing short term gains in what it sees as a predatory hegemon is as likely to exploit its partners as it is to take advantage of a rival. It may use embargoes, financial sanctions, beggar thy neighbor trade policies, currency manipulation and other instruments of economic pressure to force others to accept terms of trade that favor the hegemon’s economy or to adjust their behavior on non- economic issues of interest. (…) It further adds that “a predatory hegemon’s coercive power depends on keeping other states in a condition of permanent submission.”
An example, according to Walt, is Trump’s obsession with trade deficits and his attempt to use tariffs to redistribute economic gains in Washington’s favor. For Trump trade deficits is a rip off and a form of looting. Countries with surpluses are winning because the US pays more to them than they pay to Washington. The fight for the Island of Greenland is an illustrative example for Washington’s “Predatory Hegemony. “Trump repeated his desire to annex Greenland and his threats to impose punitive tariffs on European states that oppose this action. Predatory was also Trumps musings about making Canada the 51rst state or reoccupying the Panama Canal zone, or kidnapping Maduro from Venezuela, this all sets a dangerous example to other great power to follow. “Hence the predatory hegemony includes the danger of destruction. New foreign investment in the US fall short of trillions of dollars and is unlikely to fully materialize, the author states.
Very similar to the NSS study is the new US National Defense Study 2026 NDS “Restoring peace through Strength – For anew Golden Age of America”, which underlines that the main pillars of peace through strength strategy is “Defend the US-Homeland, secure Americas borders and maritime approaches and we will defend our nation’s skies through the Golden Dome for America and a key focus on unmanned aerial threats. Deter China in the Indo- Pacific through strength, not confrontation. Increase burden sharing with US Allies and Partners. In Europe and other theaters, allies will take the lead against threats that are less severe for us but more so for them, with critical but more limited support from the United States.” It concludes, by underlining “We will refocus the American military on its core, irreplaceable goal of winning the nation’s wars decisively… Our purpose will not be aggression or perpetual war. Rather our goal is peace. Peace is the highest good.”
We should remind ourselves of a quote that was written by St Augustine in his “City of God” 4rth Book, chapter 4-6, written in 410 A.D.: How like kingdoms without justice are to robberies.
Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; the booty is divided by the law agreed on. If, by the admittance of abandoned men, this evil increases to such a degree that it holds places, fixes abodes, takes possession of cities, and subdues peoples, it assumes the more plainly the name of a kingdom, because the reality is now manifestly conferred on it, not by the removal of covetousness, but by the addition of impunity. Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, “What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor.”
