In his first presidential administration, President-elect Donald Trump certainly faced immense national security challenges. But nothing compares with the scope or complexity of the situation he will inherit upon returning to the White House. While counterterrorism and border security remain essential missions, the United States has fully entered a new period of great power competition that could deteriorate into global emergency at nearly any moment. 

Without question, the single greatest threat to American national security is increasing cooperation between President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the Islamist regime in Iran, and the Chinese Communist Party. Though each power has distinct ideological goals, their shared purpose is to roll back American primacy around the world. Neither liberal shibboleths nor isolationist mantras will ever be enough to deter this aggression — only the careful cultivation of American power can. If the incoming Trump administration wants to keep America safe from this threat, it must avoid simplistic populist clichés about “restraint” and “nonintervention.”