National Security
National security is the capacity of the United States to defend the nation, sustain its essential systems, and preserve constitutional self-government against external and internal threats.
Biggest Threats Facing America
- China:
U.S. defense planning treats China as the central long-term strategic military competitor, especially in the Indo-Pacific, because of its growing military power, technology ambitions, pressure around Taiwan, and coercive activity in the South China Sea.
- Russia:
Russia remains a major threat through military aggression, cyber operations, disinformation, and broader destabilization efforts.
- Cyberattacks:
A major cyberattack could disrupt power, communications, finance, transportation, or government operations without a conventional invasion. U.S. defense strategy explicitly includes cyber as part of integrated deterrence.
- Nuclear Danger:
Nuclear deterrence remains central because nuclear weapons still pose the most catastrophic military risk.
- Information Warfare:
Disinformation, propaganda, and influence operations can weaken trust, divide the public, and make a country easier to destabilize.
- Supply-chain Weakness:
If America cannot reliably access semiconductors, energy, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, and industrial inputs, it becomes strategically vulnerable.
- Major Concerns:
U.S. intelligence also identifies transnational criminal organizations, illicit drug trafficking, terrorism, missile threats, and WMD threats as major homeland-security concerns.
Our Adversaries Are Increasingly Cooperating
The 2026 U.S. intelligence threat assessment warns that selective cooperation among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea is strengthening the threat each poses to the United States. However, the relationships remain limited and mostly bilateral, so the danger is real but should not be overstated.
We Must
- Keep the grid running.
- Defend our networks.
- Produce what we need.
- Trust our institutions under pressure.
- Withstand simultaneous shocks.
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Our Strong Nation Must
- Defend the homeland.
- Deter major attacks.
- Protect critical infrastructure.
- Maintain a resilient military and industrial base.
- Secure alliances.
- Preserve constitutional self-government under stress.
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A Simple Citizen Scorecard
| Area | Key question
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Military readiness | Can the U.S. deter aggression?
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Homeland defense | Can America protect its people and territory?
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Cyber resilience | Can critical systems survive major attack?
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Industrial capacity | Can we build what we need in crisis?
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Supply chains | Are we dangerously dependent on rivals?
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Nuclear deterrence | Is strategic deterrence credible?
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Alliance strength | Will allies stand and act together?
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Technology leadership | Are we ahead in AI, cyber, space, and advanced manufacturing?
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Information integrity | Can the country resist disinformation and manipulation?
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Institutional stability | Can democracy function under pressure?
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The Core Lesson
U.S. intelligence also identifies transnational criminal organizations, illicit drug trafficking, terrorism, missile threats, and WMD threats as major homeland-security concerns.
It is about whether the United States can deter enemies, absorb shocks, defend its systems, out-produce rivals, and preserve a free constitutional society under pressure.
Sources
- 2026 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community
- 2026 National Defense Strategy
- 2025 National Security Strategy
- 2025 China Military Power Report.
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What You Can Do
Next: Executive Summary.