The Trump Doctrine: Sovereignty, NATO, and China

Published August 3, 2026

The end of the Cold War left the United States without a clear strategic doctrine for a changing international system. Skinner argues that the Trump Doctrine is the first serious effort since the Cold War to establish a new strategic framework for US foreign policy. It places sovereignty, reciprocity, alliance burden-sharing, and competition with China at the center of American statecraft, while rejecting open-ended nation-building and inherited assumptions that no longer reflect global realities.

Check out more on the topic:

• Read "Managing National Security in a Time of Geopolitical Transition" here.
• Read "The Iran War at the Crossroads" here.
• Read "Lessons from the Recent Conflicts for Future War with China" here.

Learn more about Kiron K. Skinner here.

Recorded on August 14, 2025.

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The opinions expressed in this video are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.

© 2026 by the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University.