ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Strategic autonomy

Strategic autonomy is like when you are playing a game and you want to make the choices about which moves you make. You know the rules of the game, but you decide how to use them to your advantage. In a foreign policy context, nations can use strategic autonomy to make their own decisions about how to relate to other countries. They can decide how best to protect their own interests, rather than relying on other countries to do it for them.