Filenews 9 December 2025
By William Hartung
The Trump administration published the National Security Strategy (NSS) last week. The NSS is a precursor to the National Defense Strategy (NDS) — a report that analyzes U.S. military priorities and strategy in more detail. The NSS is expected to be published shortly.
From one perspective, the new security document could have been written 200 years ago, as it resembles the "Monroe Doctrine" warning U.S. adversaries not to pursue their military presence in the Western Hemisphere. Some analysts have begun to call this document the "Donroe Doctrine", to... honour Donald Trump. Yes, China, the Middle East and Europe are issues that the report focuses on, but the Western Hemisphere has priority.
The most dangerous implementation of Washington's strategy in the Western Hemisphere is the possibility of military intervention in Venezuela, an extremely dangerous move that could have significant costs both economically and in human lives. The justification for the attack on Venezuela — that it exports large quantities of drugs to the United States — is overstated. A recent analysis by the New York Times explains why the focus on Venezuela is wrong:
"Mr. Trump's focus on Venezuela is out of step with reality: most of the cocaine is produced and smuggled by other Latin American states, according to data from the United States, Colombia and the United Nations."
In addition, Venezuela does not produce fentanyl at all. Fentanyl is one of the most dangerous drugs smuggled in the US, and President Trump has set his sights on it.
Some of the proponents of a U.S. intervention in Venezuela argue that toppling the Maduro regime would be a relatively simple task. History shows the opposite. Previous U.S. attempts to change the regime did not end well. A Bush administration official assured the public that the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein would be "child's play". On the contrary, it was a 20-year war that cost more than $1 trillion and tens of thousands of lives from all parties involved. The result of this bloodshed was an intransigent regime in Iraq that facilitated ISIS to establish itself in the country.
In short, American citizens and Congress should be wary of the "prophets" who talk about quick and easy regime change in Venezuela. The potential cost will be heavy and logic does not seem to be put into practice. That's why a group of senators and congressmen from both parties tabled a resolution to prevent a war with Venezuela.
Washington's new Western Hemisphere policy will not come at the expense of spending intended to prepare for a war with China and maintain the ability of the United States to intervene anywhere in the world in a short period of time. Without changes to this ill-conceived "cover the planet" strategy, the Pentagon's current budget, which reaches an impressive amount of $1 trillion, which means that the deficit and the necessary funds to address other national priorities will increase.
The National Security Strategy very often focuses on the wrong problems or uses the wrong tools to deal with real problems. That needs to change. The US needs a National Security Strategy based on the realities of the 21st century and not a return to the failed policies of the past.
