Pentagon Unveils Defense Strategy Centering U.S. Primacy in the Americas With Unilateral Options

Overview

• The Defense Department released a 34-page National Defense Strategy signed by Secretary Pete Hegseth that operationalizes December’s National Security Strategy under a "peace through strength" approach.
• The document prioritizes guaranteed U.S. military and commercial access to Greenland, the Panama Canal and the Gulf of America as key strategic areas.
• Washington warns it will take "focused and decisive" action against regional partners that fail to align with its objectives and presses allies for greater burden-sharing.
• The strategy reserves the right to conduct unilateral military strikes against 'narcoterrorists' anywhere in the Americas and cites the Caracas operation against Nicolás Maduro as a model.
• China is cast as a rival to be deterred in the Indo-Pacific without regime change, as Beijing announces closer strategic coordination with Russia and steps up outreach to European leaders.