What is the National Security Strategy?

• A. A document approved by the President that expresses vision, what the U.S. stands for, and a sensing of how the instruments of national power will be arrayed.
• B. A plan for defense budget allocations for national security.
• C. A treaty outlining alliance commitments.
• D. A daily operations directive for the armed forces.

Answer: (A)

The National Security Strategy is the President’s broad, top-line statement of the United States’ values, interests, and the plan for using all tools of national power—diplomacy, information, military capability, and economics—to protect those interests. It provides the overall direction for policy across government and helps align actions and resources toward shared goals.

This makes it different from a defense budget plan, a treaty, or a daily operations directive. The strategy isn’t about budget allocations, it isn’t a binding agreement with other nations, and it isn’t a set of instructions for day-to-day military operations. It’s the guiding document approved by the President that describes what the country stands for and how its power will be organized to advance those aims.