The first objective of the National Defense Strategy emphasizes defending the homeland and addressing threats from which country in the Indo-Pacific region?

• A. PRC
• B. Russia
• C. Iran
• D. North Korea

Answer: (A)

The main idea tested is recognizing which power is identified as the primary challenge to defending the homeland in the Indo-Pacific. The first objective points to addressing threats from the People's Republic of China, the PRC, because China’s rapid military modernization, expanding global and regional influence, and assertive actions in areas like the South China Sea and around Taiwan pose the most significant near‑term risk to U.S. security in that region. This is why China is highlighted as the focus of the first objective.

Russia is more closely associated with threats in Europe and Eurasia, not the Indo-Pacific; Iran is a Middle East actor, and North Korea, while a regional concern on the Korean Peninsula, is not the central focus of the first objective in the Indo-Pacific context.