The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict

Why and how Americas defense strategy must change in light of Chinas power and ambitionA Wall Street Journal best book of 2021

This is a realists book, laser-focused on Chinas bid for mastery in Asia as the 21st centurys most important threat.Ross Douthat, New York Times

Colbys well-crafted and insightful Strategy of Denial provides a superb and, one suspects, essential departure point for an urgent and much-needed debate over U.S. defense strategy.Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr., Foreign Affairs

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 Americas defense must change to address Chinas growing power and ambition. Based firmly on the realist tradition but deeply engaged in current policy, this book offers a clear framework for what Americas 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 Americas 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 loseprecisely in order to deter that war from happening.