

Uncle Sam’s view of the Indo-Pacific: Why India must invest heavily in naval power projection
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. America’s National Defense Strategy (NDS) was released earlier this month. It came in the backdrop of the US National Security Strategy (NSS) and two key developments: America’s capture of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in January and US President Donald Trump’ demand that Denmark surrender the autonomous island of Greenland to the US, for which this Arctic isle is said to hold national-security significance.
The NDS, which is meant to guide the US Pentagon, is not a major departure from the NSS in its emphasis on the defence of the Western hemisphere and securing the American homeland. This was visibly demonstrated by the capture of Maduro and Trump’s incessant threats to take control of Greenland. Irrespective of the motivation behind Washington’s decision to align the NDS with strong hemispheric defence, the NDS’s narrowed view of US defence strategy globally is consistent with the NSS.
Three aspects of the NDS stand out. First, greater burden sharing among allies and partners to relieve the US of its role as the world’s apex security provider. The NDS is quite blunt in stating that allies have become a burden for the US; it holds past administrations responsible for turning allies into “dependencies." As a corrective, the NDS makes clear that allies and partners must assume a greater burden of their own defence, especially in Europe against Russia.
Beyond Europe, South Korea has been similarly exhorted—if not quite excoriated like Europe—to assume a greater burden of its defence against any North Korean attack. In West Asia too, allies and partners have been told to do more for their defence, with Iran viewed as the region’s greatest threat. The second key
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