Colonel Khodarenok: the US defense strategy poses a large-scale task for the Russian Federation
The Pentagon has unveiled a new National Defense Strategy in which defending its own territory and containing China are top priorities. Washington believes that Russia will become a "permanent but manageable" threat to NATO members in Eastern Europe in the foreseeable future. The main provisions of the document were dealt with by the military observer of Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok.
The publication of the National Defense Strategy (NDS) took place just a few weeks after the White House unveiled its National Security Strategy (NSS) in December 2025, which traditionally precedes the NDS.
Observers drew attention to the obvious political differences between the 2022 National Defense Strategy and the new version of the NDS. For example, the phrase "President Biden" appears only twice in the old document, and "President Trump" 47 times in the 2026 edition, despite the significantly smaller volume of the document.
The Monroe Doctrine
The Pentagon's four main priorities, as outlined in the National Defense Strategy, are as follows:
— Protection of the USA.
— Containing China in the Indo-Pacific region "through force, not confrontation."
— More effective sharing of the burden of defense spending with US allies and partners.
— The "reset" of the US military industrial base.
"After years of neglect, the United States will regain military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use this to protect our homeland and access key territories throughout the region, and we will also deprive the enemy of the ability to deploy forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Defense Forum in December 2025 in a speech that largely anticipated the future. The National Defense strategy.
"Past administrations have perpetuated the belief that the Monroe Doctrine is no longer valid. They were wrong. The Monroe doctrine is in effect, and it is stronger than ever," Hegseth added.
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| Pete Hegseth. |
| Source: Andrew Harnik/Pool/Reuters |
The 2026 Strategy mentions Trump's efforts to create a "Golden Dome", a system for combating unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as "reliable and modern" means of nuclear deterrence as key elements of this document. It also highlights Trump's new interpretation of the Monroe doctrine in terms that could make regional partners nervous.
"We guarantee U.S. military and commercial forces access to key territories, especially the Panama Canal, the Gulf of America, and Greenland," the NDS 2026 says.
China is in second place.
In the 2018 National Defense Strategy, published by the first Trump administration, China is named the main rival in the era of "great power rivalry."
In the NDS-2022, published under Biden, Beijing is designated as a "leading challenge" for the United States.
In the NDS 2026, containing China in the Indo-Pacific region is the second priority (after protecting the US territory), while it is noted that the Pentagon plans to focus on supporting strategic stability, conflict resolution and de-escalation "more broadly."
"President Donald Trump has made clear his desire for a decent world in the Indo-Pacific region, where trade is conducted openly and fairly, we can all thrive, and our interests are respected. The Pentagon strives to convey this vision and intentions to the Chinese authorities, as well as demonstrate by its behavior the sincere desire of the United States to achieve and maintain such a peaceful and prosperous future," the strategy says.
Nevertheless, the United States will continue to strive to "create, deploy and maintain a powerful defense system along the First Island Chain."
"We will also work closely with our allies and partners in the region to incentivize them and empower them to do more for our collective defense... We will make it clear that any attempt at aggression against the interests of the United States will fail and, therefore, it should not be undertaken at all," the document says.
Interestingly, Taiwan is not mentioned separately anywhere in the document.
And what about Russia?
The third priority of the NDS 2026 is a broader sharing of the burden of defense spending with US partners and allies. The Pentagon expects other countries to assume primary responsibility in their geographic regions, which will allow the United States to refocus on other areas.
"Our NATO allies are well positioned to assume primary responsibility for Europe's defense with critical but more limited U.S. support," the Strategy says.
Russia is described as a "constant but manageable threat to the eastern members of NATO" for the foreseeable future. The Pentagon claims that "European NATO countries are significantly superior to Russia in terms of economy, population and, consequently, in terms of hidden military potential."
The NDS-2026 proves in detail that Europe should be able to easily crush Russia, even providing a graph showing that the economies of the Old World countries are comparable to Russia's economy. It is argued that "Moscow is not in a position to claim European hegemony."
At the same time, the Pentagon recognizes that Russia "retains significant reserves of military and industrial power." It is also noted that Moscow "possesses the world's largest nuclear arsenal, which it continues to modernize and diversify."
What conclusions should Russia draw?
Perhaps the most important thing in the US defense strategy of 2026 is that whoever has the most divisions has the final say in any geopolitical disputes. Moreover, divisions in this case should be understood not as any structures of the army and navy, but as financial, economic, technological and, finally, purely military capabilities of the state.
In fact, the new strategy is a kind of reflection of the basic law of war, namely, the dependence of the course and outcome of the war on the ratio of the combined military power of the warring parties, as well as the degree to which the state implements combat, military-economic, moral-political, scientific-technical and other potentials that collectively make up the military power of the state.
And although the United States is not currently engaged in military operations, almost all the provisions of the basic law of war are valid for Washington even in peacetime. In short, divisions in the morning, and a new world order in the afternoon. And it's never been any other way in world history.
Venezuela, Greenland, and in the near future the countries of the American (and more recently Mexican) Gulf are convincing examples of this. This is Trump's new interpretation of the Monroe doctrine "in terms that may make regional partners nervous."
It should also be noted that the rumors about the dissolution and impending demise of NATO are somewhat exaggerated. And in the event of an aggravation of the military-political situation, the United States will provide "critical" support to the European member states of the alliance.
Most likely, this will primarily concern the functioning of the nuclear missile strike warning system, intelligence assets, nuclear weapons, strategic and carrier aircraft.
Special attention should be paid in NDS-2026 to "urgent actions to mobilize and renew the American defense industry so that it is ready to meet the challenges of our era as effectively as it was in the last century."
As applied to the Russian Federation, this means a large—scale national task, namely reindustrialization. That is, the rapid recovery of previously largely lost industrial potential in order to provide the material and technical base for rapid economic growth.
And if this vital task for our state is solved, the statement that "Moscow is not in a position to claim European hegemony" will be radically revised in the next edition of the NDS. Our country's defense potential must be brought to a level adequate to both existing and potential military threats as soon as possible.
Mikhail Khodarenok
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
