Canadian military instructors look on during Ukrainian military exercises at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Yavoriv, Ukraine, in July, 2016.YURIY DYACHYSHYN/Getty Images

Wesley Wark is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and an expert on national-security and intelligence issues.

The new national-security strategy issued by the Trump administration has caused shock waves among the United States’ allies.

It contains a retreat by the United States from global leadership and an abandonment of any principled foreign policy. It fails to address threats posed by authoritarian regimes and castigates Europe as a continent in decline, which needs U.S.-style political change. It shows signs of weakening NATO commitments, lacks support for Ukraine and emphasizes U.S. dominance of the Western hemisphere. The Trump strategy presents an explosive mix of policies that give new substance to an unprecedented version of the doctrine of “America first.”

While some European governments have responded forcefully, the Canadian government confronts its own dilemma. In the midst of a breakdown in trade talks with the United States, with the future of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade deal uncertain and faced with a mercurial U.S. president, how should the government respond? The horns of this dilemma are sharp. Canadian values are at........

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