Architects of a more equitable future or mere bystanders?

A political scientist in London analyses the effect the Trump administration’s recently released National Security Strategy is having, not just on far-right communities in America and Europe, but also on the communities they are targeting

Black and brown migrant communities are fighting back against the onslaughts of the far right, not just in America but also in Europe, most recently by President Trump’s National Security Strategy 2025 which frames migration as an existential threat to “Western identity”. 

The National Security Strategy recently released by the Trump administration      represents a stark pivot in U.S. foreign policy toward “America First” nationalism, economic protectionism, and a revival of the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 — framed as the “Trump Corollary” — to exclude China and Russia and assert dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

The policy, launched on 4 December, emphasizes pragmatic deal-making with autocrats and a retreat from global democracy promotion. Many analysts have zeroed in on its racist tone, particularly its fixation on Europe’s “civilizational erasure” through mass migration and cultural dilution.

This rhetoric echoes the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, warning that non-European immigrants could render European nations “majority non-European” and unreliable allies, while praising “patriotic” far-right parties in Europe for resisting this shift.

A blueprint

Such language isn’t subtle: it’s a blueprint for “making Europe white again,” blending white supremacist tropes with official policy.

This isn’t abstract geopolitics — it’s personal for the Southasian diaspora in the U.S. and Europe, who number over five million in the U.S. alone and millions more in the UK, Germany, and elsewhere. 

The NSS’s anti-immigrant ethos aligns with Trump’s broader 2025 actions: mass deportations, H-1B visa restrictions, and rhetoric targeting “Third World” migrants from “shithole countries” as threats to Western identity.

Southasians, often on skilled visas or as second-generation citizens, face surging hate. According to a recent survey by the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders campaign group, online slurs and physical attacks against people of colour have spiked after the 2024 elections. 

In Europe, where the NSS explicitly endorses anti-migrant far-right surges,  by explicitly tying its “civilisational decline” to “uncontrolled mass migration” and collapsing White birthrates. Southasian communities were already facing heightened Islamophobia and xenophobia in recent years, from the UK riots to the fascistic Alternative for Germany, known as AfD, rhetoric.

The document’s racism isn’t just a footnote; it’s foundational. It frames migration as an existential threat to “Western identity,” ignoring how Southasians – and other minorities – have bolstered economies (for instance, Indian-Americans contribute billions to US GDP and tax revenues) while facing erasure as “model minorities” when convenient.

For diaspora members, this signals a precarious position: valued for labour but vilified as cultural interlopers.

Viewing our position

The position of Southasians in the U.S. and Europe may be viewed as one of conditional inclusion in a system increasingly hostile to non-white, non-Christian “others.” Trump’s NSS doesn’t explicitly target Southasia — India even gets a nod as a counterweight to China — but its domestic fallout does. In the U.S., deportations have hit Indians hard (over 1,700 were deported in the first seven      months of 2025).

The crackdown on H-1B visas, fuelled by MAGA – ‘make America great again’ – base demands, threatens tech hubs like Silicon Valley, where the majority of visas go to Indians.

The NSS has ramifications beyond America. Its cheerleading for nativist parties amplifies attacks across the pond in Europe, Southasian Muslims – for example in the post-Brexit UK violence – and Hindus alike, as “foreign influence” blurs into racial profiling.

Yet, there’s nuance: some diaspora voices celebrated Trump’s win for perceived economic pragmatism or anti-China stance. They now face backlash from the same base that views Indians as job stealers.

This internal divide — between assimilated “success stories” and vulnerable newcomers — weakens collective power, fostering a “pull up the ladder” mentality where second-generation Southasians distance themselves from recent arrivals.

Southasians are less accepted as equals but tolerated as economic cogs, with the NSS’s cultural purity demands legitimising intolerance. Geopolitically, Southasia’s nations are hedging with multialignment — deals with Russia and China — to counter U.S. tariffs, but diasporas suffer interpersonal racism at home.

Collective resistance

Accepting this framework means internalizing the NSS’s zero-sum worldview: downplaying racism to “assimilate” further, supporting pro-Trump figures like Vivek Ramaswamy or Usha Vance as “tokens,” or blaming intra-community divides for the hate.

This path erodes dignity and invites more exclusion — history shows “model minorities” are discarded when nativism surges (e.g., post-9/11 Southasian profiling). It also fragments Southasia’s global soft power, as unified diasporas could amplify voices on issues like climate or trade.

Challenging it, however, positions the diaspora as bridge-builders and truth-tellers, leveraging economic clout and cultural hybridity. Here’s what’s already happening:

• Mobilizing politically: In the U.S., people are joining or funding groups like the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders’ campaign, “Stop AAPI Hate: Many Roots, One Home”. The activism counters Trump’s agenda through advocacy and voter turnout, aiming to flip swing districts with 2026 midterms in sight. 
  
• In Europe, alignment is occurring with anti-far-right coalitions to lobby against migration curbs. Cross-Atlantic solidarity — such as U.S. Southasians supporting European kin via shared platforms — builds resilience.
  
• Amplifying narratives: Using media and tech savvy to debunk myths. Southasian creators on X and TikTok expose H-1B racism, turning personal stories into viral calls for equity.
  
• Partnering with allies (Black, Latino, Muslim communities) to frame resistance as anti-racist solidarity, breaking ethnic silos, challenging the politics of divide and rule.
  
• Economic leverage: As high earners (Indian-Americans’ annual median income: USD 126K), people are investing in community funds for legal aid against deportations and supporting Southasian-led businesses that prioritize ethical hiring over visa exploitation.
  
• Cultural reclamation: Rejecting the NSS’s Western identity binary by celebrating hybridity through festivals, art, education that unapologetically highlight Southasian contributions to America/Europe.

Ultimately, challenging the NSS isn’t just self-preservation; it’s a political and moral imperative. The document’s racism thrives on division — the diaspora’s role should be to embody the multiculturalism it fears. Southasians can redefine belonging on their own terms.

In a multialigned world, diaspora networks span continents — they may be used to build power that outlasts any one strategy. The choice is ours: we have chosen to be architects of a more equitable future rather than mere bystanders.

Inderjeet Parmar is a professor of international politics and associate dean of research in the School of Policy and Global Affairs at City St. George’s, University of London, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and writes the American Imperium column at The Wire. He is author of Foundations of the American Century (2012), among other books.

Lead Image : ‘Fight today for a better tomorrow’. Markus Spiske / Pexels

This is a Sapan News syndicated feature available for republication with due credit http://www.sapannews.com.

Note on Southasia as one word: We use ‘Southasia’ as one word, “seeking to restore some of the historical unity of our common living space, without wishing any violence on the existing nation states” – Himal Southasian

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