- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2186
Photo: Expert Infantry – flickr.com (CC BY 2.0)
The 2026 National Defense Strategy report redefines the United States’ role in the world, prioritising the Western Hemisphere as the forefront of its strategic concern. The US is signalling that the Americas, from Greenland to South America, are critical to its national security, stability, and political influence, with a renewed reliance on the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which meant that the US regarded Latin America as its ‘backyard.’
The Middle East is no longer a primary theatre for the US grand strategy, instead it is a managed risk zone. Imported Middle Eastern oil is no longer essential to national security, but is needed to assure global price stability. Any disruption to Middle Eastern oil supplies has limited impact on US oil demands.
The US will prioritise hemispheric security as integral to national security, blurring the lines between domestic and regional defence. The US is reasserting its pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere, asserting that no external military power will be tolerated if it is seen as undermining US security and influence in the region. Strategic objectives include energy integration, critical mineral cooperation, and reinforcing North American competitiveness.
Many governments in Latin America already view US political, economic and military pressure as reminiscent of historical interventionism, with this year seeing controversial military actions. Under operation Southern Spear, the US expanded its naval presence in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, deploying the largest US naval force in the region since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. This huge naval buildup was meant to strike small vessels said to be linked – without proof – to narcotics trafficking. It linked drug trafficking and “authoritarian rule” as a challenge to US regional dominance.
On 3 January this year, US forces kidnapped Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The operation convinced US leaders that regime change and direct force are viable instruments.
Washington’s military objective is a zero tolerance of any Russian or Chinese military and naval presence in Cuba, or South America. China is seen as a long-term strategic rival, rather than a cooperative partner, with the US wanting to counter Chinese influence across Latin America and the Caribbean. After the US attack on Venezuela, China and Russia are recalibrating their strategies in Latin America, with China reconsidering the depth of its engagement in the region.
US hemispheric influence is a blend of assertive security measures, reoriented diplomatic priorities, and economic integration. This strategy is driven by a desire to secure US borders, challenge rival powers, and ensure regional stability, but raises complex questions about international law, regional autonomy, and long-term regional cooperation. After 3 January other countries will have mixed feelings about the US and its ‘Department of War.’
