America's Strategic Turn

BOOK DESCRIPTIONAmerica's Strategic Turn: The 2025 National Security Strategy in Historical PerspectiveIn December 2025, the Trump administration released its second National Security Strategy-a document that explicitly repudiates the post-Cold War consensus that has guided American foreign policy for more than three decades. Declaring that "American strategies since the end of the Cold War have fallen short, " this strategy positions itself as a fundamental break from the past, rejecting democracy promotion, redefining alliance relationships, and elevating economic nationalism to the center of American grand strategy.
America's Strategic Turn offers the first comprehensive, systematic analysis of the 2025 National Security Strategy within the full historical context of post-Cold War American strategic thought. Through rigorous comparative analysis of all seventeen National Security Strategy documents published between 1991 and 2025-spanning the administrations of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden-this book reveals both the profound continuities and dramatic discontinuities that define American strategic evolution.
Dr. Naim Tahir Baig employs a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative textual analysis with quantitative content analysis to examine how successive administrations have defined the national interest, prioritized threats, conceptualized the use of force, structured alliance relationships, and articulated America's role in the world. The book traces the arc from the "unipolar moment" of the 1990s through the War on Terror era, the pivot to Asia, the return of great power competition, and finally to the 2025 strategy's assertion of an "America First" doctrine that challenges fundamental assumptions about American leadership.
This study is essential reading for scholars of international relations, foreign policy professionals, military strategists, and informed citizens seeking to understand how American strategy has evolved and where it may be heading. With unprecedented detail and analytical rigor, America's Strategic Turn provides the definitive comparative assessment of post-Cold War American grand strategy-and offers critical insights into the forces that will shape American foreign policy in the years ahead.
Key Features: Comprehensive Coverage: Analysis of all 17 NSS documents from 1991-2025, spanning five presidential administrations Rigorous Methodology: Mixed-methods approach combining qualitative textual analysis with quantitative content analysis Thematic Analysis: Systematic comparison across key dimensions including threat perception, alliance theory, democracy promotion, use of force doctrine, and economic statecraft Expert Sources: Drawing on peer-reviewed scholarship, think tank analysis, and primary documents from the Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institution, CSIS, Atlantic Council, and leading academic journals Historical Context: Situates the 2025 strategy within the broader arc of American strategic thought from the Cold War to the present Policy Implications: Examines what the 2025 NSS means for allies, adversaries, and the future of the international order