This is CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor. Here's John Batchelor.

This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Bachelor. I welcome Elbridge Colby, the author of the new book,

The Strategy of Denial, American Defense in an age of great power conflict.

Elbridge Colby is co-founder and principal of the Marathon Initiative.

He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development,

2017 through 2018.

And we turn to the condition at hand in the world as we know it.

The competition, great power competition involves the players from the 20th century plus

China.

And Bridges book looks at all of those possibilities, but focuses on China.

So before we come to the examples of China and the U.S. in conflict in East Asia, we begin with definitions.

Bridge, a very good evening to you. Congratulations.

A military strategy for limited war.

What is limited war and what does the U.S. now know about its possible opponent, China, in a limited war?

Good evening to you.

Good evening, John.

It's wonderful to be back on with you.

It's a thanks for a pleasure to be back on and an honor.

What is a limited war?

A limited war is something that sounds paradoxical, but is very actually deeply rooted in basically human nature and certainly military affairs, which is the idea that, you know, even in wars

that engage people's, you know, deepest emotions and, you know, aspirations

and fears, there are almost always incentives to keep a war from spiraling to the kind of

...