National Interest

by James Skinner

    The newly released National Defense Strategy brings much-needed Department of Defense focus to the Western Hemisphere.

    The 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) gives force to a decisive shift in America’s national security priorities. For years, US defense policy sidelined protection of the homeland in favor of distant commitments while narcotics ravaged American communities, criminal networks eroded national sovereignty and hostile actors took root in our hemisphere. That imbalance is no longer tenable. A nation cannot effectively project power abroad if its security at home is compromised.

    Homeland defense and the Western Hemisphere have rightfully been elevated as top-tier defense priorities. This shift in strategy offers more than a rhetorical emphasis in planning documents. It offers a roadmap to completely reorient how the Department of Defense plans, postures forces and allocates resources. It reflects a clear-eyed assessment of where the most direct and persistent threats to American lives now originate—and how permissive policies, fragmented authorities and deferred responsibility allowed those threats to metastasize.

    At the center of this threat landscape are transnational criminal organizations operating throughout the Western Hemisphere, with the support of adversaries like Russia, China and Iran. By acting as surrogates for foreign regimes that seek to undermine US security, the cartels are no longer conventional criminal enterprises. They have evolved into heavily armed, well-financed networks that control territories, corrupt institutions, exploit mass migration and smuggle narcotics into the United States at an industrial scale.

    Narcotics trafficking is not confined to a regional or border-state problem. Synthetic opioids, especially fentanyl, have become mass-casualty weapons, killing roughly 70,000 Americans annually in every corner of the country. If left unchecked, these networks will create new opportunities for China, Russia and Iran to embed intelligence services, finance illicit activity and establish footholds close to our borders. There is no ambiguity in how America will respond.

    The Monroe Doctrine has been explicitly revived and reinforced by the Trump Corollary, which makes clear that foreign interference in our hemisphere will not be tolerated and that the United States will act decisively when its interests are threatened. Narco-terrorist networks are now being confronted using the same intelligence-driven targeting, operational persistence and military precision that the United States has applied against terrorist organizations for over two decades.

    At the same time, this strategy is precisely what underpins American strength abroad. Security along America’s immediate periphery is a geopolitical prerequisite for projecting power beyond. The United States has vital interests in the Indo-Pacific and a forward military presence—matched by sustained readiness—is essential to ensuring President Donald Trump can always negotiate from a position of power.

    Competition with China is therefore framed in terms of strength rather than conflict. The strategy prioritizes deterrence, resilience and a favorable balance of power while maintaining channels to reduce the risk of miscalculation. Its purpose is not provocation but prevention: building overwhelming capability so that the costs of war are unmistakable and aggression becomes the least desirable option.

    That deterrent posture should not rest solely on American power. President Trump has long made clear that the United States should lead with partners, not carry dependents—and the strategy reflects that reality. It calls for greater burden-sharing, stronger partner capacity and clear expectations that those who benefit from US security cooperation must contribute meaningfully to their own defense and regional stability. Alliances built on collective responsibility rather than reliance are stronger, more credible and far more effective when deterrence is tested.

    Finally, the strategy addresses a reality often overlooked in past defense planning: national security is rooted in industrial strength. In the era of great power competition, rhetoric is meaningless without the ability to produce, deploy and maintain force at scale. Revitalizing the defense industrial base, strengthening missile and air defenses, restoring readiness and hardening cyber and critical infrastructure against attack are once again recognized as strategic imperatives.

    History will remember President Trump as a peacemaker, not because he avoided employing force, but because he understood when it was necessary and made the cost of testing American resolve unmistakably high. From the Abraham Accords to the defeat of ISIS, from ending long-running conflicts to launching no new prolonged wars, peace was preserved through strength backed by swift and decisive action. When American lives were threatened, adversaries learned quickly that provocations would be met with an immediate and final response, not endless rhetorical warnings.

    The 2026 National Defense Strategy carries that approach forward. It makes clear that the United States will defend the homeland, secure the Western Hemisphere and maintain the capability to impose costs wherever its interests are threatened. Peace is maintained when deterrence is credible and credibility rests on the certainty that the United States will act.