"[This strategy] is fundamentally structured differently than earlier national security strategies. It talks a great deal about economic security, and above all about how and where the United States can represent its business interests, how to be, so to speak, a powerful economy, because that brings power in all other areas as well. And that's precisely how the 'America First' campaign is being pursued," Kalm said Monday on Vikerraadio's "Uudis+" program.

As business interests dominate, it does not emphasize the importance of world order, justice, or international law, but how to best protect America's economic interests around the world, she added.

Although a strategy is meant to serve as a guide to the functioning of the state and its ministries, this one remains vague and outlines few priorities, Kalm noted.

Where previous strategies have described, for example, the U.S.'s capacity to engage in conflicts and wars, this time that is absent. Likewise, the Trump administration's latest strategy says practically nothing about the strategic threat landscape, Kalm said.

"During the previous Trump [administration], there was a lot of talk about how China and Russia were cooperating against the U.S., how these countries were strategic competitors to America, and how they should be dealt with. It was said about Russia that it is not an equal adversary, but is still capable of causing harm, which drew a lot of attention at the time. But now, there is no mention of such great-power rivalry or competition at all; everything is framed in economic terms," the expert said.

"Russia is barely mentioned beyond the point that strategic stability is needed between Europe and Russia. But the fact that these are major nuclear powers is not discussed, and North Korea is also entirely omitted. So there are many things that are usually part of a typical American national security strategy, but have been left out this time because the focus is elsewhere," Kalm explained.

The focus on the economy also largely means that Trump is not interested in the domestic politics of other countries, at least in the Middle East. "He says we should not interfere in other countries' internal politics, it's not our job to spread democracy, we should talk to countries as they are. If there's a long-standing monarchy tradition somewhere, then so be it, it's not our concern; our concern is to cooperate economically so that we all can prosper," she said.

At the same time, she noted that the U.S. government has been critical of European domestic politics. "Both sides are present in the strategy. There is some criticism of European freedom of speech, similar to the themes heard at last year's Munich Security Conference. At the same time, the importance, closeness, and overall value of Europe are emphasized, and that it is the U.S.'s closest partner. So both sides are included," Kalm said.

Ukraine is easier to pressure than Russia

Kalm said that while the U.S. has pressured Russia, for example, with sanctions on oil companies, greater pressure is being placed on Ukraine. Economic interests appear to be behind this as well.

"It's clear that Ukraine is easier to 'squeeze,' so to speak, or to pressure. And if we look at who has been on the negotiating delegations, who has been in contact with Steve Witkoff, and so on, there is a strong perception that once peace is achieved, the enormous Russian market will open up. Then, various businesses can move ahead with their investments in LNG or in complex gas and oil fields, and there's a lot of potential seen in what the Russian market offers. The Russian market is bigger than Ukraine's; you see opportunities for rare earth metal mining, and all sorts of things there. I think there are definitely many people in the U.S., especially entrepreneurs, who are lobbying for peace, and right now, their voices seem to be carrying more weight," she said.

As there is still no peace in Gaza, or in the Thailand-Cambodia conflict, Trump wants all the more to achieve peace in Ukraine. But intense public attention is pushing him to hurry and to pressure Kyiv as well.

"Maybe it would be better if all this attention shifted away for a while, because the stronger the media and public pressure is, the more I feel that Trump wants to get it over with quickly and obviously, pressuring the Ukrainians is easier for him than pressuring the Russians," Kalm argued.

Large U.S. military presence in the Caribbean

One new aspect of this strategy compared to the previous one is the much greater focus on Latin America, which has a focus on controlling immigration, Kalm said.

"And what's also very interesting is the sort of revival of the Monroe Doctrine, which says that the U.S. has vital interests in Latin America and that this is its sphere of influence. They are establishing their own sphere of influence, cooperating with allies in the region, but also with countries that are perhaps not allies but share common interests. As if America has a special right to the resources and critical infrastructure in that region," she commented.

This is also linked to the recent deployment of major military forces near Venezuela in the Caribbean, which could potentially be used to launch an attack, but which may remain in the region for a longer period, Kalm added.

"It is also being justified by saying that America must have a larger military presence in that region, that there should be more ships there. So we may be seeing changes underway. This is not just a temporary movement of ships into the Caribbean, but something that may continue for the next three years," Kalm said.

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