Realism Returns: Washington Accepts Russia Is Not an Enemy!!

ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ

What’s Changed: The 2025 NSS Signals a Strategic Pivot

By Helleniscope’s Editorial Team

For many years, Helleniscope has insisted that the cartoonish framing of Russia as an eternal American adversary ignored both history and hard reality.

From the American Revolution to WWII, the U.S. and Russia have aligned repeatedly when strategic interests converged. Yet since the late 1990s, Washington’s bipartisan foreign-policy class treated Russia as a permanent threat — while refusing to acknowledge that Moscow was the most self-sufficient major power on Earth and decades ahead in missile technology.

We argued, long before Ukraine exploded, that Russia was not a geopolitical vassal but a strategic actor — a nation that the U.S. could sometimes cooperate with rather than perpetually confront. The destruction of Rex Tillerson’s Arctic mega-deal with Rosneft — the largest energy exploration project in human history — was Exhibit A: the American “National Security establishment” sabotaged business opportunities that did not fit its ideological template.

Finally: “Russia Is Not An Enemy!!”

In recent days, for the first time in a generation, U.S. foreign policy appears to move away from the reflex of treating Russia as a permanent antagonist. The new NSS does not rely on bombastic rhetoric — instead, its priorities, tone, and structural assumptions reflect a different framework.

• The NSS places top priority on the Western Hemisphere — indicating the U.S. will scale back its traditional emphasis on Europe. Council on Foreign Relations+2The Washington Post+2

• It frames ending the war in Ukraine as a vital U.S. interest, rather than continuing a protracted conflict. The Kyiv Independent+2The Ridgefield Press+2

• It endorses “restoring strategic stability with Russia” — signalling a willingness to re-engage diplomatically, rather than forever isolate Moscow. Council on Foreign Relations+2The Telegraph+2

• In Europe, the NSS rejects the endless expansion of NATO and urges European partners to assume responsibility for their own defense. Los Angeles Times+3Council on Foreign Relations+3The Telegraph+3

In short, the NSS pivots from moral-crusade containment to realist strategic balance.

Implications: Russia as Strategic Actor, Europe Demoted, Hemisphere First

Under this new doctrine, Russia is treated not as a pariah or ideological enemy — but as a permanent, industrial, strategic actor: large, resilient, and impossible to simply “erase.” The U.S. appears ready to negotiate, not indefinitely isolate.

That recognition rewrites long-standing assumptions: Russian strength — economic, energy, military — can no longer be ignored in favor of ideological posturing. Engagement becomes plausible.

Meanwhile, Europe loses its status as the axis of U.S. global strategy. The U.S. effectively tells its allies: “We’re moving on. Strengthen yourselves.” The Western Hemisphere becomes the focal zone — a modern reprise of a “Monroe Doctrine”-style realist foreign policy. The Washington Post+2Council on Foreign Relations+2

What This Shift Could Enable

If this shift lasts:

• Reset with Russia is possible — diplomatic engagement, arms control revisits, recognition of spheres of influence.

• Europe may rearm, reorganize, or fracture — obliged to defend itself, perhaps even reconsider alliances.

• The U.S. might refocus on other theaters (Indo-Pacific, hemisphere, domestic readiness) — globalization and ideological interventions may recede in favor of strategic interests.

What This Means: Realism Is Back — In Policy, Not Just Theory

The 2025 NSS appears less like a new ideological crusade and more like a return to realpolitik — where geography, power, resources, and stability define strategy.

For the first time in decades, an American National Security doctrine implicitly acknowledges:

• Some rivals must be negotiated with, not demonized.

• Global ambitions must be balanced with regional and hemispheric priorities.

• Military and ideological policing of Europe is no longer an American burden.

In other words — Washington has finally come to its senses.

December 5, 2025, n.stamatakis@aol.com   www.helleniscope.com

DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.

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