The New US National Security Strategy (NSS) has been released.  This is a critically important document prepared by every administration that sets out the United States’ national security priorities, along with a formulation of the strategy & policies it proposes to address these concerns.

As would be expected with such a high stakes document, there are already many interpretations of it.

Here are some suggestions on how to read it.

1. First of all, read it.  Avoid simplistic, partial, and hot take interpretations on the web–and read it–the whole thing for yourself.  It’s a relatively short read: 33 pages.

2. Remember that there are two versions of the NSS: a public-facing (propaganda/PR) document and a classified version mandated by law.  The public-facing document has been redacted, the tone modulated/adjusted,  its messaging/rhetoric targeted, and ambiguity inserted.  It serves as messaging to the rest of the world, both enemy & ally.

Hence, be cautious of highly interpretative/interpreted takes that seem colored by politics, ideology, desire or emotions (wishful thinking, obsessive paranoia, axes-to-grind, or jubilant vindication). The document requires hermeneutic rigor to unpack and fully understand.   This means you should do the following:

3. Look for and notice the contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the document.  The gaps are where the truth is trying to speak.

For example, notice:
a) the strong critique of European politics vs. its declared, preambular respect for “non-interference”, “national sovereignty” and national politics/policies
b) its declaration of pragmatic, “flexible realism” and desire for “genuinely mutually advantageous economic relationship with Beijing” vs “stopping Predatory, state-directed subsidies and industrial strategies”

c) contradictions in the language about “non-interference” vs. “fairness”.

d) language on priorities: is this real restraint, or merely re-sequencing?

4. Look/listen for different voices (tones, perspectives, goals, factions) in the writing, esp. idiosyncratic tones or ideas, such as echoes of President Trump’s worldview, Undersecretary Colby’s ideas, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s messaging, as well as other messages targeted or modulated for specific audiences (see 3).

5. Look for edits (they can be deduced), leaks/slippage (there is leakage and slippage), and subtext; consider what the classified, non-public version might say, or what was really intended.  For example, is “maintaining determined rhetoric” the same thing as [forcing] commitment or is it rhetorical?

6. Look for unusual phrases, phrasings, and locutions (see 3, 4, 5 above)

7. Look for continuity with previous NSS; in particular, as well as coded and compressed (but hostile) language that refers to other doctrines, policies and papers, such as “Free and Open Indo Pacific”;  “Predatory, state-directed subsidies and industrial strategies”, “Unfair trading practices”, “Grand-scale intellectual property theft”, “Threats against our supply chains” and references to Undersecretary Colby’s own Strategy of Denial doctrine (on Taiwan)

8. Note differences/contrasts with previous NSS’s; note what is surprising/unexpected; ask why.

9. Most importantly, seek to distinguish between “remarks” (rhetoric; boilerplate with no force) and “code”: policies which the administration is serious about making happen, items with illocutionary force built in or policies which are already in motion (see 3 above).

10. Ask, what’s missing here, and why?
Was it redacted out? (Does it survive in the classified version? Will it be elaborated in subsequent documents?)
Is it a purposeful, strategic/tactical omission?
Is it a blindspot (ideological or otherwise)?

It’s an important document, and understanding it properly will help orient you in all matters relating to US geopolitics.

Think critically for yourself!