COLBY MUCH IN THE DEFENSE NEWS RE UKRAINE, NATO, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA AND AUKUS. 8/8 The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict, by Elbridge A. Colby.
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
Elbridge A. Colby was the lead architect of the 2018 National Defense Strategy, the most significant revision of U.S. defense strategy in a generation. Here he lays out how America’s defense must change to address China’s growing power and ambition. Based firmly in the realist tradition but deeply engaged in current policy, this book offers a clear framework for what America’s goals in confronting China must be, how its military strategy must change, and how it must prioritize these goals over its lesser interests.
The most informed and in-depth reappraisal of America’s defense strategy in decades, this book outlines a rigorous but practical approach, showing how the United States can prepare to win a war with China that we cannot afford to lose—precisely in order to deter that war from happening.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS Island the World. I'm John Batchel with Elbridge Colby, the author of The Strategy of Denial, American Defense in an Age of Great Power conflict. |
| 0:12.0 | The aim of strength is peace. However, right now, a coalition can be formed in the event of an attack on Taiwan. |
| 0:22.3 | However, NATO, is NATO part of this equation? |
| 0:26.3 | It doesn't geographically touch upon any of it, |
| 0:28.9 | but we see now with Ocus, |
| 0:31.4 | Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, |
| 0:34.5 | as part of a coalition in the Indo-Pacific dealing with China. |
| 0:38.7 | Is NATO to get involved? |
| 0:40.3 | Is that a factor for China? |
| 0:43.4 | Yeah, it's a factor. |
| 0:44.6 | I don't think Europe is going to play a particularly significant role directly in the military balance in the Pacific. |
| 0:50.8 | What I think the main role, you know, Europe is the secondary theater for us. It's very important, but it's distinctively less important than Asia. And furthermore, the chance of another state becoming or a state becoming hegemonic in that region is far less. I mean, China is half of Asia's GDP, so it stands a very plausible chance of establishing |
| 1:13.2 | a dominant position in the region. Russia is a much smaller fraction. It's not even the largest |
| 1:17.7 | state in the region. I mean, Germany is by GDP. So, you know, the threat is less significant, |
| 1:23.8 | although significant, and the threat is much more limited than so. And we need to focus on |
| 1:28.4 | Asia because we're dealing with a superpower there. So that's really got to be our focus. So we are |
| 1:32.1 | going to have to reduce our exposure. I think we should remain in NATO, but I think the key will be |
| 1:39.6 | to reduce especially our conventional obligations in Europe and basically shift those to the |
| 1:46.7 | Europeans, which in a sense actually was the vision of NATO from the beginning. |
| 1:49.5 | This was President Eisenhower. |
| 1:51.2 | You know, vision is actually that SACIRA would be a European and so forth. |
| 1:54.7 | So this is not doing violence to the basic idea. |
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