National defense strategy Basics
Instruments of National Power (DIME)
Great Power Competition
Cybersecurity
Deterrence & Defense
100

This document, updated every four years, outlines the U.S. Department of Defense’s strategic priorities.


What is the National Defense Strategy?


100

This government department is responsible for diplomacy and managing U.S. foreign relations.

What is the Department of State?

100

In addition to China, this country is considered the “acute threat” in the 2022 NDS.


What is Russia?


100

This type of cybeattack involves tricking individuals into revealing sensitive information through fraudulent emails or messages.

What is phishing?

100

The U.S. maintains a nuclear deterrence strategy based on these three delivery methods: bombers, submarines, and ICBMs.


What is the nuclear triad?

200

The 2022 NDS identifies this country as the “pacing challenge” for the U.S. military.


What is China?


200

The strategic use of media, public messaging, and cybersecurity to shape public perception and influence global narratives.

What is informational warfare?

200

China’s rapid military expansion includes building artificial islands in this body of water to assert territorial control.


What is the South China Sea?


200

This form of attack overwhelms a system or network with excessive traffic, rendering it unusable.

What is a Denial-of-Service (DDos) attack?


200

This policy ensures that any nuclear attack on the U.S. or its allies will result in a devastating counterattack.


What is Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)?


300

Alongside integrated deterrence, this approach ensures the U.S. military is prepared to respond to future conflicts.


What is campaigning?


300

This military doctrine integrates operations across land, air, sea, space, and cyber domains for maximum effectiveness.

What is Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO)?

300

The U.S. military concept that emphasizes fighting across all domains—land, sea, air, space, and cyber—is called this.


What is Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO)?


300

This federal agency is primarily responsible for protecting civilian government networks from cyber threats.

What is the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)?

300

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) follows this principle, where an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.


What is collective defense?


400

This strategic concept ensures the U.S. can maintain a strong deterrent while simultaneously fighting and winning a war if necessary.


What is the two-war construct?


400

The military instrument of national power is most often used to achieve national objectives when these other instruments fail.


What are diplomacy, information, and economic power?


400

This defense strategy concept aims to prevent adversaries from taking aggressive actions by making the cost too high.


What is deterrence?


400

This type of warfare uses cyber tools to disrupt critical infrastructure, such as power grids and financial systems.

What is cyber warfare?

400

This military alliance, formed in 1949, is based on the principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all.


What is NATO?


500

The three main pillars of the National Defense Strategy are integrated deterrence, campaigning, and this.


What is building enduring advantages?


500

The U.S. often uses all four parts of DIME together to handle global problems. This is called what?


What is a whole-of-government approach?


500

Detaining criminals and terrorists is an example of this instrument of national power.

What is law enforcement?


500

A key challenge in cybersecurity is securing the supply chain, particularly for these types of essential digital components.

What are semiconductors and microchips?

500

The U.S. maintains a strong global presence to deter aggression by keeping military forces stationed in key regions, such as Europe and the Indo-Pacific. This strategy is known as forward what?


What is forward presence?


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