New Denial Strategy? Assessing the 2026 NDS

Zack, Melanie, and special guest Kelly Grieco take a look at the Department of War's 2026 National Defense Strategy. What does a "decent peace" with China look like? Is that what China wants? What does the document get right and wrong about burden-sharing among allies and partners? Will this strategy actually help deliver the "peace through strength" that is so important to this administration? Zack has an atta for the foreign affairs reporters at the Washington Post, Kelly has an atta for the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots, and Melanie has even more grievances for the administration's chaotic tariff policies. 

 

Show Links:

 

• National Defense Strategy, Department of War, January 2026.

• Editorial Board, "Trump's Tariffs Can't Cover a Bill This Staggering," Washington Post, January 26, 2026.

• Friedrich Merz, Speech at the World Economic Forum, January 23, 2026.

• Jim Geraghty, "Tearing Apart NATO, Over a Trinket," January 20, 2026.