national defense
Guarding the homeland
National defense is a country's military and strategic efforts to protect itself from external threats.
The term encompasses armed forces, weapons systems, intelligence operations, and related infrastructure.
In political discourse, national defense often justifies military spending and foreign policy decisions: The budget allocated billions to national defense.
The phrase can expand beyond military matters to include cybersecurity, border control, and economic protections deemed vital to a nation's security.
- combat readinessPrepared for immediate action
- armyOrganized land-based military
- boots on the groundMilitary presence in area
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- navyMaritime military force
special forces · military base · chain of command · deterrence · marines · air force · treaties · counterintelligence · top secret · missile systems · nuclear deterrent · military law · reconnaissance · military alliances · satellites · threat assessment · peacekeeping missions · foreign policy
- federal powersdeclare war, interstate commerce, federal taxes, war powers, military
- government functionslaw enforcement, tax collection, public safety, judiciary, foreign affairs
- government spendinggovernment spending, federal budget, expenditures, allocations, military spending
- US Governmentexecutive branch, legislative branch, judicial branch, Congress, House
- executive branchexecutive branch, Oval Office, executive power, executive orders, cabinet secretary
- conservatismconservative, traditionalism, fiscal conservative, small government, free enterprise
national defensemilitary aggression
Armed forces attacking another
foreign invasion · wars of aggression · imperial expansion · wars of conquest · preemptive strike
national defenseforeign aid
Cross-border governmental help
humanitarian assistance · international development · economic aid · foreign assistance · peacekeeping
national defensepacifism
Antiwar moral stance
disarmament · defenselessness · demilitarization · diplomatic engagement · collective security
defense, nation, national, nationalism, nations, nationalist, nationalize, internationally, nationalistic