“At least,” a friend sighed, “they didn’t call it the 2026 National War Strategy.” True enough, although if Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claims that he now leads the Department of War, logical consistency would suggest substituting the fiercer war for the feebler defense in the National Defense Strategy. But logistical consistency, like coherence and gravitas, does not characterize the new NDS. It is a document that supposedly nests within the National Security Strategy , explaining at