TAKING a softer view on China and not referring to its perennial flashpoint Taiwan, the National Defence Strategy (NDS), released by the Trump administration Friday flagged, as a key priority, its dominance in the Western hemisphere.
The NDS 2026, coming a month after the National Security Strategy, is sharply different from the NDS 2018 during Trump’s first administration that had underlined how “China and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model”.
In contrast, NDS 2026 said US will “deter China in the Indo-Pacific through strength, not confrontation”. This is a significant departure of posture by the US towards China’s assertive, and sometimes, aggressive behaviour, in the Indo-Pacific.
“Our goal in doing so is not to dominate China; nor is it to strangle or humiliate them,” NDS 2026 said. It added: “This does not require regime change or some other existential struggle… President Trump seeks a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China.”
NDS 2026 frames how Washington sees its allies in the security project making it clear that its involvement will be calibrated based on its own “honest and clear” assessment of the challenge in tune with US interests.
“In the Indo-Pacific, where our allies share our desire for a free and open regional order, allies and partners’ contributions will be vital to deterring and balancing China. In Europe and other theatres, allies will take the lead against threats that are less severe for us but more so for them, with critical but more limited support from the United States. In all cases, we will be honest but clear about the urgent need for them to do their part and that it is in their own interests to do so without delay,” NDS 2026 said. “We will incentivize and enable them to step up. This requires a change in tone and style from the past, but that is necessary not only for Americans but also for our allies and partners. For too long, allies and partners have been content to let us subsidize their defense.”
This “increased burden-sharing” with US allies and “partners” is a clear message to India as well — that the US commitment to the Quad grouping of India, US, Australia and Japan is being put to test, if Delhi and other partners don’t step up their end of the bargain.
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NDS 2026 does not mention South Asia or India or Af-Pak at all in its 34-page document, neither did the NDS of 2018. At that time, though, Afghanistan had found mention because of its relevance.
Dominating the region is the clear focus in the NDS 2026 as it outlined its goals: “We will defend the Homeland and ensure that our interests in the Western Hemisphere are protected. We will deter China in the Indo-Pacific through strength, not confrontation. We will increase burden-sharing with allies and partners around the world. And we will rebuild the US defense industrial base as part of the President’s once-in-a-century revival of American industry.”
“For too long, the U.S. Government neglected — even rejected — putting Americans and their concrete interests first,” it said.
“We will engage in good faith with our neighbours, from Canada to our partners in Central and South America, but we will ensure that they respect and do their part to defend our shared interests,” the document says. “And where they do not, we will stand ready to take focused, decisive action that concretely advances US interests.”
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Prioritising the Western hemisphere, the NDS said the US will “actively and fearlessly defend America’s interests throughout the Western Hemisphere.” It specifically points to access to the Panama Canal and Greenland.
While saying that “Russia will remain a persistent but manageable threat to NATO’s eastern members for the foreseeable future,” the NDS said that NATO allies are much more powerful and so are “strongly positioned to take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense.” It added that the Pentagon will play a key role in NATO “even as we calibrate US force posture and activities in the European theatre” to focus on priorities closer to home.
