The United States National Security Strategy (2025): Continuity and Change

Blagojević Veljko (Viši naučni saradnik, Institut za međunarodnu politiku i privredu, Beograd), veljko@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs

This paper analyses the National Security Strategy (NSS) of the United States from 2025 as the most important strategic document of American foreign and security policy. The scientific and professional public often discusses the significant changes brought about by this document. However, the constants of American foreign and security policy are incomparably less mentioned. The goal is to examine the key trends of continuity and change in relation to the previous strategies, the 2017 National Security Strategy and the 2022 National Security Strategy. Qualitative content analysis, a systemic comparative approach, and secondary analysis of relevant literature were used. The paper indicates that the 2025 National Security Strategy embodies the traditional elements of the American strategic approach, the importance of economic and technological power, the role of alliances in deterrence, and the need to strengthen the effectiveness of national institutions. At the same time, it introduces significant changes: a dramatic reorientation towards the Western Hemisphere, a new ideological rhetoric towards European partners, a redefinition of relations with Russia and a more explicit use of force in the fight against transnational crime. The paper concludes that the 2025 National Security Strategy represents a paradigmatic hybrid of continuity and change, which will have significant consequences for global order, transatlantic relations, and regional stability, particularly in the context of a reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine. Essentially, the subject of the research is an effort to answer the basic question of how the current US administration intends to maintain the US’s position in the global environment, which presents challenges to its dominance and is radically and rapidly changing.

Keywords: National Security Strategy, United States of America, national security, foreign policy, great powers, Western Hemisphere, China, Europe