On Monday, February 23, Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe, was published in the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.
In the piece, Wieslander argues that the new U.S. National Security Strategy, released by the Trump administration in November 2025, has left Europe squeezed from both the east and the west.
“To the east, Europe borders Russia, a revisionist state seeking to expand its political influence and territory at Europe’s expense,” writes Wieslander. At the same time, in the west, the United States “is signaling that it is preparing to hand over responsibility for the continent’s conventional defense to the Europeans,” while also “adopting a spheres-of-influence approach to the global order.”
The article was originally published in dispatches on Atlantic Council.
Read it in the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences via the link below.
Further reading
Mon, Dec 22, 2025
US strategy is leading to a Europe squeezed from the east and the west
Dispatches By
The European Union is caught between a revisionist Russia and a United States that seems ready to divide the world into spheres of influence.
Fri, Feb 20, 2026
What I heard in Munich: ‘We Europeans need a plan’
Dispatches By Anna Wieslander
Hopes of a bold, unified initiative led by Germany, France, and the United Kingdom did not materialize at the recent Munich Security Conference.
Tue, Jan 27, 2026
How the Nordic-Baltic states became Europe’s reliable security engine
Dispatches By Anna Wieslander
Eight Northern European states are acting together early and turning solidarity into capabilities and delivery.