Bridge Colby writes with A. Wess Mitchell in the Wall Street Journal: “Containing China Will Be Complicated”

"The Covid-19 pandemic has convinced many that the U.S. must fundamentally change its policy toward China. Shifting course is necessary, but it won’t be achieved with a few policy tweaks. That’s because the pandemic’s political and economic effects are bringing about a more assertive Chinese grand strategy. "Beijing has steered China’s rise with relative ease since the mid-1990s. Enabled by the West’s open arms, China has grown its economy, armed itself and expanded its influence around the world without significant interference [...]

Bridge Colby quoted in Nikkei article, “China-Russia Alliance On Horizon as Nuclear Arms Treaties Crumble”

"These concerns translated into action when the U.S. withdrew from the INF Treaty last August. While Washington blamed alleged violations by Moscow, the primary motive was to counter potential threats from Beijing, according to Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official who helped author the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy. "'The Chinese aspect to this is far more important for the United States,' Colby said. "'Although it could be beneficial for the United States to have INF Treaty missiles in Europe, [...]

2020-04-24T10:50:11-04:00April 21, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby quoted in The New York Times article, “Americans Demand a Rethinking of the ‘Forever War’”

“'One of the very odd pathologies of Washington and the defense establishment is this enthrallment with the Middle East, which just isn’t that important,' said Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official in the Trump administration. 'America has become energy independent. And we’re not very good at achieving our preferred outcomes in the Middle East.' "Mr. Colby was the main author of the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which recommended turning America’s war-fighting focus to the 'revisionist powers' of China and Russia..." [...]

2020-02-24T15:20:53-05:00February 2, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby interviewed in The Asahi Shimbun, “U.S. Needs ‘Denial Defense’ to Thwart Chinese Action in Taiwan”

"Elbridge Colby, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development, recently spoke with The Asahi Shimbun about China’s military ambitions, particularly over Taiwan, and what he believes neighboring countries, including Japan, should do to prepare for such security threats..." Read the full transcript here: Full Transcript

2020-01-16T21:38:04-05:00December 27, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby quoted in The Washington Post article, “U.S. Tests Missile After Withdrawing From 1987 Treaty”

"Elbridge Colby, who led the team that helped develop the Pentagon’s military strategy to counter China and Russia, said the new missile would be an important addition to the U.S. non-nuclear arsenal. “'It is an important step forward in strengthening our conventional posture, especially in Asia,' said Mr. Colby, who left the Pentagon last year. "The new land-based weapon, Mr. Colby said, would present the Chinese military with more U.S. systems to worry about and would also be more cost-effective for [...]

2020-01-16T21:45:50-05:00December 12, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby writes with A. Wess Mitchell in Foreign Affairs: “The Age of Great-Power Competition”

"U.S. foreign policy is, by most accounts, in disarray. Headlines—including in these pages—proclaim the death of global American leadership. Famous columnists send regular dispatches from the frontlines of U.S. President Donald Trump’s supposed campaign against the postwar liberal order. The damage to Washington’s standing in the world, we are told, is irreparable. "But step back from the day-to-day commotion, and a different picture emerges. In truth, the United States is gearing up for a new era—one marked not by unchallenged U.S. [...]

2020-01-16T21:54:19-05:00December 11, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby writes in National Review: “A Republican Foreign Policy”

"The United States needs a new framework for thinking about its role in the world. And this need is especially pressing for American conservatives. We are entering a world in which the dominant foreign-policy paradigms of the post–Cold War years are of little to no help, and are often downright harmful. "This is as true on the right as on the left. In the post-1989 world, with American power unchallenged, many on the right were tempted by breathtakingly expansive aims little [...]

2019-12-13T07:33:54-05:00December 5, 2019|News|

Bridge Colby quoted in The Wall Street Journal article, “Trump Administration Considers 14,000 More Troops for Mideast”

"That, in turn, concerns officials and outside experts who believe the Pentagon must focus its resources on countering China, as mandated by the U.S. National Security Strategy and the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy. China, some say, is a much larger, if less immediate, problem. “'China is always a, quote, long-term problem, unquote,' said Elbridge Colby, who helped author the Pentagon’s defense strategy. 'But it’s actually a now problem...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

2019-12-09T13:04:11-05:00December 4, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby writes with David Ochmanek in Foreign Policy: “How the United States Could Lose a Great-Power War”

"The U.S. armed forces are now preparing for an age of great-power competition and rightly so. The 2018 National Defense Strategy shows the Defense Department is focused on the threats posed by Russia and especially China to U.S. interests, allies, and established partners such as Taiwan. "For now, U.S. forces appear poorly postured to meet these challenges. That’s because both Russia and China have developed formidable networks of missiles, radars, electronic warfare systems, and the like to degrade and potentially even [...]

2019-11-08T15:12:56-05:00October 29, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby writes in The Wall Street Journal: “Don’t Let Iran Distract from China”

“The Trump administration is right to respond cautiously to last week’s Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia. As the U.S. protects its interests in the Middle East, it must not allow its military focus to be wrested away from Asia. "The threat from Iran pales in comparison to that from China. Iran’s economy is less than 1/20th the size of China’s. The leadership in Tehran may be especially hostile to the U.S., but it’s increasingly evident that their counterparts in Beijing are [...]

2019-10-04T18:33:29-04:00September 24, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|
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