From Liberal Order to Transactional Multipolarity: The US National Security Strategy 2025 and the Case for Strategic Autonomy in Bangladesh

From Liberal Order to Transactional Multipolarity: The US National Security Strategy 2025 and the Case for Strategic Autonomy in Bangladesh

From Liberal Order to Transactional Multipolarity: The US National Security Strategy 2025 and the Case for Strategic Autonomy in Bangladesh

30th Aug, 2026

From Liberal Order to Transactional Multipolarity:

The US National Security Strategy 2025 and the Case for Strategic Autonomy in Bangladesh

 

Professor Shahab Enam Khan, PhD

Abstract

The Trump Administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) marks a significant shift from post-Cold War liberal internationalism, introducing ‘transactional multipolarity.’ This article examines the implications of the NSS for export-dependent developing economies, such as Bangladesh, drawing on the geoeconomic framework and the concept of weaponised interdependence. The NSS’s approach of ‘flexible realism’ and mercantilist statecraft exposes peripheral economies to vulnerabilities. Bangladesh faces an ‘infrastructure trilemma’ that complicates its relationships with China, access to Western markets, and its strategic autonomy. Traditional hedging strategies are proving inadequate, necessitating a move towards intentional geoeconomic statecraft that emphasises the link between economic and national security. This analysis addresses the challenges policymakers face and concludes that Bangladesh needs to build a robust strategic culture that engages all stakeholders, including the private sector, in developing a cohesive national security strategy.

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Year

2026

Author(s)

Professor Shahab Enam Khan, PhD

Journal Name

Osmani Papers

Volume, Issue

1, 1

Pagination

07-21

Article Type

Paper

DOI: 10.67844/pc9wrk


For access to the full article, please subscribe to Osmani Papers by contacting us at ocpass2025@gmail.com. 

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