Intro
America is entering an era of great power competition for which it is not prepared. How to secure American freedom and prosperity in this more competitive age is the organizing national security question of our time. Yet America has been slow to wake up to the challenge.
To fill that void, we are building The Marathon Initiative.
Our Focus


The mission of The Marathon Initiative is to develop strategies for preserving America’s prosperity, security, and democratic-republican way of life in an era when they are threatened by the return of great power competition.
What We Do
Marathon exists to develop the diplomatic, military, and economic strategies America will need to navigate conditions of protracted competition with great power rivals.
To preserve America’s prosperity, security, and democratic way of life in an era when they are threatened by the return of great power competition.


Who We Are
The Marathon Initiative is a 501(C)3 non-profit research think tank dedicated to the development of strategies to deal with the problems posed by great power competition.


Elbridge Colby
Elbridge Colby is co-founder and principal of The Marathon Initiative, a policy initiative focused on developing strategies to prepare the United States for an era of sustained great power competition.


Wess Mitchell
Dr. A. Wess Mitchell is co-founder and principal at The Marathon Initiative and formerly served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.


Jakub G. Grygiel
Dr. Jakub Grygiel is a senior advisor at The Marathon Initiative and a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC). In 2017-2018 he was a Senior Advisor in the Office of Policy Planning at the Department of State.


Edward Luttwak
Dr. Edward N. Luttwak is a Distinguished Adjunct Fellow at The Marathon Initiative, a policy initiative focused on developing strategies to prepare the United States for an era of sustained great power competition.
Our Work
We believe that the primary task for our generation is to build a new American strategy attuned to the pressing realities of our time. This framework must be comprehensive of the major regions and dimensions of U.S. power and interests. It must also be willing to challenge established wisdom and inertia in U.S. national security policy and related fields.
Contact
For press inquiries, please email us at press@themarathoniniative.org.
For all other inquiries, please email us at inquiries@themarathoniniative.org.