‘Near-peer adversaries China and Russia, and others like North Korea and Iran, are leveraging new systems, such as drones, missiles, cyber and disinformation’
By Glen D. VanHerck, Danielle L. Willis, Real Clear Wire
Today’s global strategic landscape is the most challenging since the historical period between World Wars I and II. For the first two decades of the 21st century, the United States and its allies were largely focused on fighting Islamic extremism. Meanwhile, our adversaries quietly developed the ability to hold the U.S. homeland at risk with kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities below the nuclear threshold. Today, the North American sanctuary—once viewed as a fortress protected by two oceans, faces threats from all domains extending well beyond current defensive mechanisms. Near-peer adversaries China and Russia, and others like North Korea and Iran, are leveraging new systems, such as drones, missiles, cyber and disinformation campaigns. All these are dangerously capable of bypassing today’s homeland defenses, which have traditionally been focused on detecting and countering strategic attacks. This transition calls for urgent, new approaches. The Administration’s Golden Dome for America represents that pivotal shift.
Why Golden Dome Matters
The Pentagon owes the National Command Authority more than just the nuclear triad for homeland defense. While the nuclear deterrent has long served as the cornerstone for keeping the homeland safe, today, it alone is no longer sufficient to counter adversaries capable of attacking critical U.S. infrastructure by diverse means, and from all axes. Golden Dome will provide the nation and its leaders with the means required to be able to detect, deter and counter new threats to the homeland and its infrastructure.
Reframing Golden Dome: Beyond the Space Shield
The current, prevailing narrative of Golden Dome as a “space shield” is dangerously misleading. This legacy view, rooted in Cold War style thinking and headlines about missile defense, underappreciates the complexity and scale of modern threats. Golden Dome must evolve as a multi-domain homeland defense architecture, as described in the 2026 National Defense Strategy. Its success hinges first on developing a capability to consolidate data across civilian and military sensor sets. At the outset, the National Command Authority must be provided an overall composite picture of the situation and maximum potential time to implement effective countermeasures.