A strategic vision - National Security Strategy of the United States of America

Trump Administration Strategy Document Improves on Predecessors

by Gregg Roman

The Hill


Originally published under the title "National Security Strategy Sets America on Pragmatic Path to Secure Middle East Interests."

The document offers a powerful vision that previous administrations never would have laid out so clearly.

Download .pdf here: www.whitehouse.gov National Security Strategy of the United States of America

Russian President Vladimir Putin had some choice words recently aboutPresident Trump's newly unveilednational security strategy.

"The U.S. has recently unveiled its new defense strategy. Speaking the diplomatic language, it is obviously offensive, and, if we switch to the military language, it is certainly aggressive," Putin told state-owned media.

He's right, and that's sort of the point.

The strategy laid out in the 68-page document is intended to set out in clear detail how this administration views the world, and to demonstrate clearly that our nation means what it says. For foreign leaders, it provides guidance on what we expect of them, and states plainly that the United States is leading the world down a new path, one that prioritizes American interests above idealistic — and naive — visions of global cooperation.

Where previous administrations took careful, dithering approaches to promoting our interests and securing our nation, this document lays out a vision that finally prioritizes the American people and our needs. If the Trump administration can execute it, our nation will be far better off in the future.

For the Middle East, the national security strategy offers a new view of American leadership. Importantly, and for the first time, an American government is recognizing the unique threats posed by Islamists, offering plans to counter not only terror attacks but also the ideology that enables terrorist groups to grow and fuels the violence they perpetrate.

The plan lays out a basic strategy for American involvement, and puts an end to disastrous policies of the past which focused — in turns — on failed policies seeking aspirations for democratic transformation or total disengagement.

And unlike previous similar documents, this administration finally recognizes the interconnectedness of big global problems such as the expansion of Iranian influence, state collapse, radical Islamist ideology and socio-economic stagnation.

The new plan ends the Obama-era practice of "Countering Violent Extremism." This disastrous program provided funds to Islamist groups to help draw sharper distinctions between terrorists and those who merely push ideologies that support terrorism.

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Read more: www.meforum.org