Overview
- The 2026 National Defense Strategy shifts resources to homeland defense and Western Hemisphere dominance and explicitly pushes allies to assume greater security burdens.
- China is no longer named the principal threat and the Indo-Pacific is not labeled the top theater, as the strategy emphasizes diplomacy, de-escalation and fair trade.
- Taiwan is absent from the document, prompting concern in Taipei, though analysts note references to a denial defense along the First Island Chain and point to December’s reported US$11.1 billion arms sale as evidence deterrence continues.
- For the first time, South Korea is asked to take primary responsibility for the conventional North Korean threat, with implied expectations that Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan make major new defense investments, while NATO moves toward higher spending targets.
- Iran has emerged as an early proving ground, with Trump warning of a “massive Armada” and, according to reporting, directing the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group toward the region and conveying unconfirmed demands on enrichment, missiles and proxy support.