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The Institute for National and International Security (INIS) successfully organized a high-level international expert webinar dedicated to the newly released U.S. National Security Strategy, a pivotal policy document that signals important shifts in American global posture and introduces a recalibrated strategic framework with far-reaching consequences for Europe, NATO, the Western Balkans, and the broader international security architecture.
The webinar was moderated by Prof. Dr. Darko Trifunović, Director of the Institute for National and International Security (INIS), who structured the discussion around the Strategy’s core assumptions, framed its strategic implications, and guided an in-depth exchange between academic analysis and policy-relevant perspectives.
The discussion provided a comprehensive and analytical overview of the Strategy, with particular attention devoted to the redefinition of U.S. strategic priorities and global commitments. Participants examined how Washington is reassessing threat hierarchies, reallocating strategic attention, and selectively expanding or reducing engagement across key regions and domains.
A central focus of the webinar was the evolving U.S. approach to Europe and NATO. While the Strategy formally reaffirms the transatlantic bond, it simultaneously signals a shift toward greater European responsibility, increased burden-sharing, and enhanced regional ownership of security challenges. Speakers emphasized that this evolution has direct implications for NATO’s eastern flank, alliance cohesion, and long-term deterrence credibility.
The debate further addressed the implications for Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, highlighting how U.S. strategic recalibration affects regional security dynamics, military posture, political stability, and the strategic calculus of smaller and mid-sized states. Particular emphasis was placed on the growing importance of resilience, intelligence capacity, and strategic adaptability in an increasingly competitive international environment.
Another major analytical block examined the emerging balance of power between the United States, Russia, and China. The Strategy conceptualizes China as a systemic, long-term challenger and Russia as a revisionist disruptor, requiring the United States to manage simultaneous strategic pressures. This dual challenge, participants agreed, constrains American freedom of action and increases reliance on allies, indirect instruments, and regional buffers.
The webinar brought together distinguished experts combining academic authority and practical experience. Key contributors included Prof. Dr. Shlomo Shpiro (Bar-Ilan University), Prof. Dr. LtCol (r) Steven Oluic (INIS Senior Research Fellow), Prof. Dr. Juliusz Piwowarski (Rector, University of Public and Individual Security “Apeiron”, Krakow), Prof. Dr. Marina Roșca (Republic of Moldova), Docent Dr. Mikael Weissmann (Swedish Defence University), and Dr. Eleni Kapsokoli (RIEAS & INIS). The discussion was further enriched by contributions from Prof. John M. Nomikos, Dr. Barak Bouks, Marijana Dojčinović, and representatives of the diplomatic and defense community, including COL Kovacs, Defense Attaché of Hungary in Belgrade, alongside numerous INIS associates and international experts.
The concluding segment of the webinar clearly demonstrated that the new U.S. National Security Strategy should be understood as a strategic recalibration rather than a rupture with previous policy frameworks. It reflects Washington’s acknowledgment that the post–Cold War security order has definitively ended and that the United States now operates in an international environment defined by permanent great-power competition, constrained resources, and increasing demands placed upon alliances and partners.
A central conclusion was that the United States is moving away from universal global engagement toward a model of strategic selectivity. By prioritizing regions, domains, and partnerships where American power can generate decisive long-term effects, the Strategy implicitly accepts reduced involvement elsewhere. This introduces asymmetry in security guarantees and signals to allies that U.S. attention will increasingly be conditional, interest-driven, and transactional rather than automatic.
For Europe and NATO, the Strategy conveys a nuanced but unmistakable message. While commitment to the Alliance remains intact, greater responsibility is placed on European allies to provide deterrence, readiness, resilience, and crisis-management capacity. This marks a gradual transition from U.S. security primacy toward a co-leadership model, with particular consequences for NATO’s eastern flank and for regions traditionally dependent on a strong American presence.
At this point, the moderator summarized the strategic essence of the discussion with a concluding observation that captured the broader implications of the Strategy. As Prof. Dr. Darko Trifunović noted, the U.S. National Security Strategy ultimately demonstrates a fundamental reality of the international system: small states tend to operate within the realm of illusions, while great powers act on the basis of strategic aspirations. This asymmetry, he emphasized, defines both the limits of expectation and the necessity of strategic realism for all actors involved.
The Strategy further institutionalizes simultaneous competition with China and Russia as a structural condition of the international system. Managing these parallel challenges constrains U.S. freedom of action and increases reliance on allies and regional stabilizers, intensifying strategic pressure on Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and other geopolitical fault lines.
The discussion also underscored that small and mid-sized states are increasingly positioned as both stakeholders and shock absorbers of global power competition. Those capable of aligning national resilience, intelligence capacity, and diplomatic agility with broader alliance frameworks may enhance their strategic relevance, while those unable to adapt face heightened vulnerability.
In parallel, the Strategy expands the concept of security beyond the military domain. Economic security, technological dominance, supply-chain resilience, information control, and societal cohesion are treated as core security pillars, elevating intelligence, counter-hybrid capabilities, and cognitive resilience to a central role in national and collective security planning.
Deterrence itself is redefined through the concept of integrated deterrence, combining military, economic, diplomatic, technological, and informational instruments. While this increases strategic flexibility, it also raises the likelihood of prolonged gray-zone confrontation rather than clearly defined escalation scenarios.
Ultimately, the Strategy serves as a warning against strategic complacency. U.S. support remains vital but no longer unconditional; credibility, contribution, and alignment will increasingly shape the depth and durability of American engagement.
Taken together, the webinar confirmed that the new U.S. National Security Strategy represents a strategic inflection point for the transatlantic community. It challenges Europe, NATO members, and partner states—particularly in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans—to reassess assumptions, invest in resilience and intelligence capacity, and assume greater responsibility for their own security, while recognizing that transatlantic cooperation remains essential in an increasingly competitive and uncertain international order.
Share
The Institute for National and International Security (INIS) successfully organized a high-level international expert webinar dedicated to the newly released U.S. National Security Strategy, a pivotal policy document that signals important shifts in American global posture and introduces a recalibrated strategic framework with far-reaching consequences for Europe, NATO, the Western Balkans, and the broader international security architecture.
The webinar was moderated by Prof. Dr. Darko Trifunović, Director of the Institute for National and International Security (INIS), who structured the discussion around the Strategy’s core assumptions, framed its strategic implications, and guided an in-depth exchange between academic analysis and policy-relevant perspectives.
The discussion provided a comprehensive and analytical overview of the Strategy, with particular attention devoted to the redefinition of U.S. strategic priorities and global commitments. Participants examined how Washington is reassessing threat hierarchies, reallocating strategic attention, and selectively expanding or reducing engagement across key regions and domains.
A central focus of the webinar was the evolving U.S. approach to Europe and NATO. While the Strategy formally reaffirms the transatlantic bond, it simultaneously signals a shift toward greater European responsibility, increased burden-sharing, and enhanced regional ownership of security challenges. Speakers emphasized that this evolution has direct implications for NATO’s eastern flank, alliance cohesion, and long-term deterrence credibility.
The debate further addressed the implications for Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, highlighting how U.S. strategic recalibration affects regional security dynamics, military posture, political stability, and the strategic calculus of smaller and mid-sized states. Particular emphasis was placed on the growing importance of resilience, intelligence capacity, and strategic adaptability in an increasingly competitive international environment.
Another major analytical block examined the emerging balance of power between the United States, Russia, and China. The Strategy conceptualizes China as a systemic, long-term challenger and Russia as a revisionist disruptor, requiring the United States to manage simultaneous strategic pressures. This dual challenge, participants agreed, constrains American freedom of action and increases reliance on allies, indirect instruments, and regional buffers.
The webinar brought together distinguished experts combining academic authority and practical experience. Key contributors included Prof. Dr. Shlomo Shpiro (Bar-Ilan University), Prof. Dr. LtCol (r) Steven Oluic (INIS Senior Research Fellow), Prof. Dr. Juliusz Piwowarski (Rector, University of Public and Individual Security “Apeiron”, Krakow), Prof. Dr. Marina Roșca (Republic of Moldova), Docent Dr. Mikael Weissmann (Swedish Defence University), and Dr. Eleni Kapsokoli (RIEAS & INIS). The discussion was further enriched by contributions from Prof. John M. Nomikos, Dr. Barak Bouks, Marijana Dojčinović, and representatives of the diplomatic and defense community, including COL Kovacs, Defense Attaché of Hungary in Belgrade, alongside numerous INIS associates and international experts.
The concluding segment of the webinar clearly demonstrated that the new U.S. National Security Strategy should be understood as a strategic recalibration rather than a rupture with previous policy frameworks. It reflects Washington’s acknowledgment that the post–Cold War security order has definitively ended and that the United States now operates in an international environment defined by permanent great-power competition, constrained resources, and increasing demands placed upon alliances and partners.
A central conclusion was that the United States is moving away from universal global engagement toward a model of strategic selectivity. By prioritizing regions, domains, and partnerships where American power can generate decisive long-term effects, the Strategy implicitly accepts reduced involvement elsewhere. This introduces asymmetry in security guarantees and signals to allies that U.S. attention will increasingly be conditional, interest-driven, and transactional rather than automatic.
For Europe and NATO, the Strategy conveys a nuanced but unmistakable message. While commitment to the Alliance remains intact, greater responsibility is placed on European allies to provide deterrence, readiness, resilience, and crisis-management capacity. This marks a gradual transition from U.S. security primacy toward a co-leadership model, with particular consequences for NATO’s eastern flank and for regions traditionally dependent on a strong American presence.
At this point, the moderator summarized the strategic essence of the discussion with a concluding observation that captured the broader implications of the Strategy. As Prof. Dr. Darko Trifunović noted, the U.S. National Security Strategy ultimately demonstrates a fundamental reality of the international system: small states tend to operate within the realm of illusions, while great powers act on the basis of strategic aspirations. This asymmetry, he emphasized, defines both the limits of expectation and the necessity of strategic realism for all actors involved.
The Strategy further institutionalizes simultaneous competition with China and Russia as a structural condition of the international system. Managing these parallel challenges constrains U.S. freedom of action and increases reliance on allies and regional stabilizers, intensifying strategic pressure on Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and other geopolitical fault lines.
The discussion also underscored that small and mid-sized states are increasingly positioned as both stakeholders and shock absorbers of global power competition. Those capable of aligning national resilience, intelligence capacity, and diplomatic agility with broader alliance frameworks may enhance their strategic relevance, while those unable to adapt face heightened vulnerability.
In parallel, the Strategy expands the concept of security beyond the military domain. Economic security, technological dominance, supply-chain resilience, information control, and societal cohesion are treated as core security pillars, elevating intelligence, counter-hybrid capabilities, and cognitive resilience to a central role in national and collective security planning.
Deterrence itself is redefined through the concept of integrated deterrence, combining military, economic, diplomatic, technological, and informational instruments. While this increases strategic flexibility, it also raises the likelihood of prolonged gray-zone confrontation rather than clearly defined escalation scenarios.
Ultimately, the Strategy serves as a warning against strategic complacency. U.S. support remains vital but no longer unconditional; credibility, contribution, and alignment will increasingly shape the depth and durability of American engagement.
Taken together, the webinar confirmed that the new U.S. National Security Strategy represents a strategic inflection point for the transatlantic community. It challenges Europe, NATO members, and partner states—particularly in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans—to reassess assumptions, invest in resilience and intelligence capacity, and assume greater responsibility for their own security, while recognizing that transatlantic cooperation remains essential in an increasingly competitive and uncertain international order.
