<p>America has published its new National Security Strategy (NSS)—and it contains worrying rhetoric about the EU, European values and the transatlantic relationship. Russia, however, is never described as a threat or competitor. In fact, Moscow has welcomed the document as being “largely consistent with Russia’s vision”.</p><br><p>In this week’s episode, <strong>Mark Leonard</strong> welcomes <strong>Gladden Pappin</strong>, president of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, co-founder and deputy editor of American Affairs journal, and co-founder of the online magazine <em>Postliberal Order,</em> and <strong>Majda Ruge, </strong>senior policy fellow in ECFR’s US programme and long-time observer of the American right’s foreign policy. Together, they break down what’s behind the NSS and what its real impact on Europe might be.</p><br><p>What are the NSS’s ideological roots? How seriously should Europeans take the strategy and possible threats coming from the US? And what does the NSS mean for the future of the transatlantic relationship?</p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p><strong>Bookshelf:</strong></p><p><a href="https://ecfr.eu/article/reading-trumps-national-security-strategy-europe-through-a-distorted-lens/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reading Trump’s National Security Strategy: Europe through a distorted lens</a> by Carl Bildt</p><p><a href="https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2025/12/08/its-time-europe-got-to-grips-with-the-maga-challenge-writes-mark-leonard?taid=69399457f061200001554ee2&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">It’s time Europe got to grips with the MAGA challenge, writes Mark Leonard</a> by Mark Leonard</p><p><a href="https://ecfr.eu/article/europeans-cant-let-trump-define-what-it-means-to-be-european/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Europeans can’t let Trump define what it means to be European</a> by Pawel Zerka</p><br><p>This episode was recorded on December 11th 2025</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>