The bone in Trump’s throat

The Trump administration has released its National Security Strategy. The most striking feature of the 29-page “strategy” document is its return to a “New Monroe Doctrine,” Trump-style. For this reason, many commentators have begun labeling the National Security Strategy the “Donroe Doctrine.”First formulated in 1823 by U.S. President James Monroe, the Monroe Doctrine aimed to oppose European intervention in the Western Hemisphere. The doctrine was used to legitimize U.S. military interventions in Latin America. In Trump’s newly branded version, however, the implicit target is China’s growing influence in the region.

Many analysts view the National Security Strategy less as an actual “strategy” and more as the political roadmap of the Trump administration. The inclusion—for the first time—of culture wars, encompassing immigration and debates over “White American” identity, in a national security strategy document is clearly a reflection of Trump’s political campaign.

This approach is expanded in the document by framing immigration in Europe as a major threat that could collapse Christian Western civilization from within. It argues that unless migration is halted, (White) European societies will become minorities within a few decades, effectively giving a green light to the normalization of Europe’s far Right.

What has most disturbed “globalists” and “neocons” is that the language directed at Russia and China is framed less in ideological terms and more through the lens of economic competition. The demotion of the Middle East to secondary importance in the National Security Strategy appears to have deeply unsettled Israel, the “Israel Lobby,” neocons, and bipartisan pro-Israel hawks.

The document’s emphasis on the dominance of a “America First” approach across all issues has drawn criticism from “Israel First” hawks. In this regard, Eliot A. Cohen’s December 5 article in The Atlantic, titled “Trump’s Security Strategy Is an Incoherent Ramble,” provides important clues for understanding neocon unease.

Eliot Cohen, a prominent neocon, argues that the Strategy document is filled with exaggeration, flattery, falsehoods, and inconsistencies. Cohen describes the document as resembling “the words of someone talking in their sleep, oscillating between fantasy-laden dreams and cold-sweat nightmares, opening a window onto unsettling encounters with reality.” While calling the Strategy an “embarrassing state document,” Cohen does acknowledge one positive point: he considers the Trump administration’s focus on the Western Hemisphere to be correct.

Since Trump’s first presidency, neocons have been pushing for regime change in Venezuela through military intervention. During this period, Trump’s neocon National Security Advisor John Bolton notoriously attended a meeting with a folder labeled with options for military intervention in Venezuela, clearly signaling intent. Trump later dismissed Bolton from the White House and famously remarked, “If I had listened to that idiot, we’d be in World War Five by now.”

In Trump’s second term, the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and the targeting of fishing boats accused of drug trafficking have rekindled neocon ambitions for regime change in Venezuela. Most countries in the region, however, view Trump’s stance toward the Venezuelan government as a new version of old U.S. military interventions.

According to Eliot Cohen, the one thing Trump’s National Security Strategy fails to provide is a coherent picture of America’s enemies. Cohen rejects the portrayal of China primarily as a “commercial competitor” and Russia as a “Eurasian power” in need of stabilization. He is also deeply irritated by the document’s implication that problems in the Middle East have effectively been resolved.

What matters more than what Trump’s National Security Strategy says is how it will be implemented. Trump has long argued that the United States should withdraw from the Middle East. Each time, Israel and the “Israel Lobby” in the U.S. have found ways to keep America “inside.”

Netanyahu, who continues to launch attacks across the Middle East at will, made his position clear immediately after the Strategy document was released. Speaking at a conference attended by Israeli ambassadors and mission chiefs on Sunday, Netanyahu stated that Israel would remain in the areas it occupies in Syria, showing that he will continue to be a bone stuck in Trump’s throat. Until Trump removes that bone, whatever he says is hollow.