White House / U.S. Administration

Force in Play

Author of the 2025 National Security Strategy and lead negotiator on Ukraine settlement

In early December 2025, the Trump administration published a new U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) that formally abandons the long‑standing framing of Russia as a primary threat and instead emphasizes a doctrine of “flexible realism.” The document calls for reviving the Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere, ending the perception of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance, and making it a core U.S. interest to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine while re‑establishing strategic stability with Moscow. Within days, the Kremlin offered rare public praise, saying the strategy “corresponds in many ways” with Russia’s own worldview and welcoming the shift away from treating Russia as a direct adversary.

Updated Dec 11, 2025