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.

China’s “New” Diplomacy: Opportunities for American Statecraft

by A. Wess Mitchell and Christopher Vassallo

The People’s Republic of China has embarked on an ambitious diplomatic campaign to increase its influence in strategically-vital regions and burnish its credentials as a great power of global reach.
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No Sanctuary: The PLA’s Kinetic Threat to the Homeland

by William Kim and Elbridge A. Colby

Without adequate U.S. preparations, a large-scale—or even small but effectively targeted— PLA strike against the United States could be devastating, not only in terms of direct costs but on the ability of the United States to wage a war.
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Getting Strategic Deprioritization Right

by A. Wess Mitchell and Jakub Grygiel, Principal Co-Investigators; Elbridge A. Colby and Matt Pottinger, Contributors

Project prepared for the Office of Net Assessment, United States Department of Defense. Published with approval from the Office of Net Assessment.
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Sino-American Competition, Global Strategy, and the Place of the Middle East

by David Hale

The Middle East has for so long dominated the United States’ vision of its threats that it has come to distort the latter’s picture of the globe; a correction of these distortions is overdue. The United States also has a significant, if at present strained, informal alliance structure in the region and considerable assets — soft and hard — that should not be abandoned. What is needed is a sense of proportion, balance, and conceptual coherence for the partnerships among the United States and like-minded Middle Eastern states to guide the re-prioritization inherent in the idea of a rational pivot.
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January 2, 2024

AUKUS deal involves long diplomatic road for subs

The Australian | “Ex-Pentagon official Elbridge Colby and former Republican Senate security adviser Alex Velez-Green have warned that the superpower’s own navy has too few spare boats to sell to Australia unless production greatly speeds up...
January 2, 2024

VIDEO: Trump’s former defence advisor slams ‘crazy’ AUKUS submarine deal

ABC (Australia) | Elbridge Colby has questioned a plan to send nuclear-powered submarines to Australia and the US Navy's fleet capacity to spare warships. ...........
January 1, 2024

Donald Trump’s top defence advisers warn against selling nuclear subs to Australia

The Australian | “Just weeks after the US congress passed laws allowing President Joe Biden to sell Virginia-class boats to its AUKUS ally in Canberra, ex-Pentagon official Elbridge Colby and former republican Senate security adviser Alex Velez-Green say the superpower’s own navy has too few boats spare to sell to Australia unless production greatly speeds up”.....
December 30, 2023

US-China Tensions: What Lies Ahead?

NHK Japan | There are concerns that the coming Taiwan presidential election, along with disputes in the South China Sea, will increase US-China tensions. We will discuss the future of US-China relations in 2024............
December 24, 2023

日本も台湾も大きな間違い犯した」 米元国防幹部が語る危機とは // “Japan and Taiwan made a big mistake” What is the crisis that a former U.S. defense executive talks about?

Asahi | “The presidential election of Taiwan will be held in January next year. Mr. Elbridge Colby, who was the deputy assistant deputy undersecretary of defense in the Trump administration, says that the security around the Taiwan Strait is a serious situation due to the impact of the war in Ukraine and the Middle East.”..........
December 23, 2023

Japan’s Patriot-missile transfer to U.S. stuns Indo-Pacific watchers

Nikkei Asia | “Japan's decision to ship Patriot missiles to the U.S. to help backfill stocks of air-defense systems for Ukraine has surprised analysts focusing on Indo-Pacific affairs…...
December 21, 2023

‘Escalating Tensions’ – Elbridge Colby on Biden’s China Policy, Taiwan’s Dilemma, & Global Hotspots.

The Buck Sexton Show | Elbridge Colby is an American national security policy expert who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development from 2017 to 2018 during the Trump administration........
December 12, 2023

Dan Bongino Podcast: This Was A Warning

The Dan Bongino Show | Elbridge Colby receives a notable reference from Dan Bongino at the 31st minute of Dan’s episode discussing the threat posed by China’s Communist government in general and its cyberattacks in particular............
December 8, 2023

Where is the “International” in “International Order” – with Elbridge Colby

Midrats Podcast | "With a few exceptions on the sidelines by Japan and France, what has been clearly apparent in the last two months has been the absence of the International Community's..........
December 8, 2023

Washington Journal: Elbridge Colby on U.S. Aid to Ukraine

C-SPAN | "Elbridge Colby talked about Senate efforts to approve additional funding for Ukraine and the implications of further assistance on other U.S. national security concerns."........