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Basir A. Transformation of U.S. Security and Defense Strategies: An Analysis of Strategic Documents in the Context of Great Power Competition (2001–2026). SRQPIS 2026; 2 (3) :277-302
URL: http://srqpis.knu.edu.af/article-1-110-en.html

This article examines the transformation of the United States’ security and defense strategies over the period from 2001 to 2026. The central research question is whether the changes observed in U.S. security and defense documents merely reflect shifts in political language and short-term priorities, or indicate a structural transition from a counterterrorism paradigm to a great power competition framework.
This study adopts a qualitative, document-based approach and employs directed content analysis to examine U.S. National Security and National Defense strategies across four periods: 2001–2008, 2009–2016, 2017–2020, and 2021–2026.
The findings reveal that in the first period, counterterrorism and non-state actors were at the core of strategic focus. The second period represents a transitional phase, marked by a decline in the exclusive emphasis on counterterrorism and an increasing focus on concepts such as order, resilience, and the redistribution of power. In the third period, great power competition explicitly emerged as the dominant strategic framework. In the fourth period, this shift was consolidated and rearticulated through its linkage with concepts such as integrated deterrence, advanced technologies, cyberspace, and the Indo-Pacific region.
Overall, the study concludes that U.S. security and defense strategies have undergone a structural transformation during this period. China has emerged as the primary strategic competitor, Russia as an acute threat, the Indo-Pacific as the central geopolitical arena, and concepts such as strategic competition, resilience, and technological superiority as organizing principles of strategy. Nevertheless, certain elements of counterterrorism and homeland security orientation continue to persist.