The 2026 US Defense Strategy Document

By Moderator, 28 January 2026

The United States issued its National Security Strategy (NSS) in November 2025, and now it has released the 2026 Defense Strategy, subtitled “Restoring Peace Through Strength for a New Golden Age of America.” As usual, it’s an interesting read, more so given the state of the world.  

The 2026 strategy starts with an introduction by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in which he says:

For too long, the U.S. Government neglected -- even rejected -- putting Americans and their concrete interests first. Previous administrations squandered our military advantages and the lives, goodwill, and resources of our people in grandiose nation-building projects and self-congratulatory pledges to uphold cloud-castle abstractions like the rules-based international order. These past leaders neglected and often actively undermined our warfighters' warrior ethos and our military's core, irreplaceable role-fighting, winning, and thereby deterring the wars that really matter to our people. Consequently, President Trump entered office with the nation on the precipice of disastrous wars for which we were unprepared. President Trump has decisively changed that, courageously putting Americans first to truly make America great once again….

As well, the introduction states that the United States will not be isolationist, but “…nor will we make up for allied security shortfalls from their leaders' own irresponsible choices.” The previous administration, Hegseth notes, “encouraged” European allies (and presumably Canada) to free-ride. As well, the previous administration “allowed, even enabled, our cunning adversaries to grow more powerful, even as they encouraged our allies to behave as dependents rather than partners, weakening our alliances and leaving us more vulnerable.”

Now to the body of the document. As defence policy documents sensibly do, it states that the United States must prioritize issues that mean the most to Americans. The priorities are listed as:   

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Preview: Canadian Naval Review Vol. 21 No. 3 (2026)

The second article, “The Strategic Utility of Aircraft Carriers in China’s Ambitions in East Asia,” discusses the rapid growth of China’s aircraft carrier capability and how and where Beijing would likely use them in the case of war. The third article is “Why Does Canada have a Navy? Reflecting on the Canadian Leaders at Sea Program.” In this article, the author addresses a simple question that was asked while he was participating in the CLaS program, and considers what a navy represents and why Canada has one. The final essay, “SS Nerissa: A Tragic Footnote to History,” tells the little-known story of the last voyage of SS Nerissa that was sunk by a U-boat while transporting troops and civilians across the Atlantic in the Second World War.

If that isn’t enough to spark your interest, we have our usual Making Waves commentaries. We have a commentary about hydrography in the Arctic. Sound boring? It’s not. If Canada is getting submarines that are expected to operate in the Arctic, Ottawa needs to act now to map the seafloor there. We have a commentary about the many historic discussions about moving the Coast Guard into the defence department. We have a commentary about the unthinkable – i.e., having naval ships that can act as ‘tripwires’ in the event that the United States decides to blockade Canada. We have an account of a conference in Australia, Canadian interest in East Asia, and preparing for Russia in the Arctic.

And, of course, we have our regular columns. “A View from the West” looks at North Korea’s increasing focus on its navy. “Dollars and Sense” examines the defence-related parts of Budget 2025, and “Warship Developments” updates us on several interesting recent naval decisions.  

In addition to all this great information, we have our usual amazing photos!

Stay tuned. In a few weeks, the issue will be in the mailbox of people who are lucky enough to be subscribers! It’s not too late for you to subscribe. See here for the Table of Contents.

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