You Wanted a National Security Strategy, Well, You Got One
...egos bruised, oxen gored, rice bowls asunder? No...mostly the egos.
CDR Salamander
Dec 08, 2025
It has been driving me a little nuts the last couple of days, seeing all the gnashing of teeth and rending of clothes about the new National Security Strategy (NSS), not having the time to read it. I mean, come on Sal, it is only 29 pages.
I promised a few people I would start the week with my thoughts on it, so after we finished our Midrats Podcast with Bryan McGrath, I decided to give it a read.
Really people, take a powder.
As I’ve been doing with most of the documents like this the last couple of decades here, let’s look at the word cloud:
This…is actually a pretty good representation of its relative macro concerns.
Before I dive in to some specifics, there are two larger points I want to make.
This is not anti-NATO or anti-European: there is some incredibly irresponsible reporting and commentary about this report—specifically concerning NATO and Europe. As I will show below, you can read this as an indictment of the ruling class in Europe, the European Union, and various transnational institutions, but not of the European people or their nations. Indeed, it is just the opposite. If you care for something and respect it, you do not sit there and let it destroy itself. If someone is telling you that this is anti-NATO or anti-European, then you are dealing with one of three types:
https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/p/you-wanted-a-national-security-strategy
