Elizabeth Morgan | US National Security Strategy – modernising the Monroe Doctrine

AS THERE remains concern about US military activities in the southern Caribbean in which, so far, 86 people have been killed in US military strikes on small boats, it came to attention that the 2025 US National Security Strategy (NSS) was published on December 4.

An updated NSS is prepared under each administration outlining their national security priorities which are linked to the country’s foreign policy. The NSS is required under the 1986 Goldwater– Nichols Department of Defence Reorganization Act.

MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

This strategy/plan aims to ensure that, into the future, the USA will be the world’s strongest, richest, most powerful, and most successful country. The focus of the strategy is the protection of US core national interests. The document states that previous US administrations placed hugely misguided and destructive emphasis on globalism and so-called “free trade” that hollowed out the very middle class and industrial base on which US economic and military preeminence depend.

It should be recalled here that this was a longstanding policy of the Republican Party, which President Trump now represents. In this NSS document, the Trump administration is critical of the very global multilateral system which the USA created over the last 80 years. They blame other countries for the protracted wars in which the US found itself. For those of us who have studied the history of foreign relations, we know that more often than not, it was the USA which drew other countries into foreign wars. The NSS now states that the Trump administration will correct course and usher in a new golden age for the USA.

AMERICA FIRST

President Trump’s NSS/foreign policy puts America first. His foreign policy is “pragmatic without being “pragmatist”, realistic without being “realist”, principled without being “idealistic”, muscular without being “hawkish”, and restrained without being “dovish”. It is not grounded in traditional, political ideology.

WHAT THE US WANTS

The document sets out the priorities to be achieved for the USA, which are:

· Regaining full control of its borders and dealing with migration and transportation networks facilitating it. The US wants international cooperation to limit migration;

· A resilient national infrastructure able to withstand natural disasters, resist foreign threats, and prevent/mitigate events which harm the people and economy;

· The world’s most powerful, lethal, and technologically advanced military to protect national interests;

· The world’s most robust, credible, and modern nuclear deterrent, plus next-generation missile defences;

· The world’s strongest, most dynamic, most innovative, and most advanced economy;

· The world’s most robust industrial base;

· The world’s most robust, productive, and innovative energy sector;

· The world’s most scientifically and technologically advanced and innovative country;

· To maintain its unrivalled “soft power” through which to exercise positive influence throughout the world that furthers our interests; and

· The restoration and reinvigoration of American spiritual and cultural health.

WHAT THE US WANTS FROM THE WORLD

The document sets out the US’ core, vital national interests to be achieved in its engagement with the rest of the world. These are set out by regions. It pays primary attention to the Western Hemisphere. This hemisphere, from Canada to the tip of South America including the Caribbean, is to be reaffirmed as the US sphere of influence. The US will be the dominant power here, as it always sought to be.

The NSS document states as follows:

“We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well-governed enough to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States; we want a hemisphere whose governments cooperate with us against narco-terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organisations; we want a hemisphere that remains free of hostile foreign incursion or ownership of key assets, and that supports critical supply chains; and we want to ensure our continued access to key strategic locations. In other words, we will assert and enforce a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine”.

It seems that the countries of North America (Canada and Mexico), the countries of Central America and the Caribbean, and those of South America will have the primary purpose of serving the US’ national interests.

THE TRUMP COROLLARY TO THE MONROE DOCTRINE

The Britannica states that the Monroe Doctrine, as outlined by President James Munroe in December 1823, made it clear that the Western Hemisphere was closed to any further European colonisation and any attempt by a European power to oppress or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States. Through the following decades, it was clear that the Western Hemisphere was the US’ sphere of influence with increasingly broad interpretations of the Monroe Doctrine. The US became a pseudo colonial power.

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary enabling the USA to intervene in the internal affairs of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. For those who study the history of Latin America and the Caribbean, it is known that this policy did not work out well and has not worked to improve relations between the USA and countries in this hemisphere.

NOW THE NSS FORMULATES THE TRUMP COROLLARY, STATING:

“After years of neglect, the United States 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.”

This column recommends the reading and analysis of this 2025 US National Security Strategy by those in government, the private sector, and in academia.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com