Assessing the 2026 NDS: How does it deal with defense deficits?

The Pentagon released its new National Defense Strategy (NDS) in late January, characterizing it as a marked departure from previous strategies, even from President Trump’s last NDS in 2018. Homeland and hemispheric defense come in as top priorities with additional emphasis on burden shifting in Europe and countering China. On the other hand, the document downplays the salience of conflict with Russia.

A new DEFP video series, hosted by Defense Priorities Director of Military Analysis Jennifer Kavanagh, breaks down the NDS with leading defense and foreign policy experts. In this episode, Kavanagh speaks with Dan Grazier, a senior fellow and director of the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center, about the NDS’s defense industrial base initiatives and what the document says about the Golden Dome.