To identify these traces, let us go to a press conference held in Washington on 19 December. At the meeting, which lasted approximately two hours and during which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio answered questions from the press on global issues, the sentence he used when introducing the topic of the Ukraine-Russia War also revealed the current US perception of the world: “The Russia-Ukraine War is not our war. It is a war on another continent.” Indeed, the US National Security and Strategy Document shapes Washington’s perception of the world map as ’the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere.” In other words, it is no longer possible to speak of an Iron Curtain or ideological boundaries like the Berlin Wall, as was the case during the First Cold War.
On the contrary, the American continent, along with Greenland, is quite clearly defined as the United States’ natural sphere of influence, encompassing both the north and the south. This characterisation makes the pressure the US has exerted on Venezuela, its policy towards Nicaragua due to its economic cooperation with the People’s Republic of China, and its intensifying embargo against Cuba more understandable. Furthermore, Trump’s appointment of Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as Special Representative for Greenland on 21 December 2025 is also closely related to the world map outlined in the National Security and Strategy Document.
It will certainly not be easy for Europe to accept this rhetoric, which isolates the Western Hemisphere, where the US itself is located, from the rest of the world, especially from Europe and transatlantic relations. This is because the US is not only parting ways with Europe. The document gives European civilization 20 years to live. From the US perspective, the European Union’s bureaucratic oligarchy, increasing migration, and insufficient economic resources are preparing the end of contemporary European civilization.
Going a step further than the US diagnosis on the matter, it also points to the inevitable transformation NATO will undergo due to Europe’s insufficient financing. According to the US prediction, in order to secure the financing necessary for the alliance to survive, countries outside Europe may be invited to join the alliance within 10 years. Although no country names are mentioned in the document, when it comes to financing, it is not difficult to guess that the Gulf region countries are the strongest candidates for new NATO membership seats.