Hegseth's Vision for the Military is Positively Russian

Militaries are designed to win wars. Hegseth focused on winning the culture wars.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers remarks during a War Department Address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Sept. 30, 2025. (Public Domain/DoW)

It wasn’t the headline of U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s unprecedented gathering of over 800 generals in Quantico, Va., but a telling one: Trump said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had told him that the U.S. is the “hottest country in the world.” Listening to Hegseth speak to the silent generals, who were summoned from across the world on short notice and did not react as he unleashed a torrent of culture war talking points, I was struck by how his vision for the military resembled Russia’s armed forces.

One of the early headlines from the September 30 event was that Hegseth announced that he would loosen disciplinary rules and weaken hazing protections for soldiers. “And yes, they can put their hands on recruits,” he said. In so doing, he was echoing the Russian military, where new recruits are routinely hazed and subject to abuse in the practice known as Dedovshchina.