On Wednesday 26th January, we were delighted to welcome Elbridge A. Colby and Gideon Rachman back to GSF. They discussed the ideas contained in The Strategy Of Denial: American Defense In An Age Of Great Power Conflict, including the return of great power competition, the threat China poses to the US, the US military strategy most likely to deter conflict and promote global stability, the role America’s allies should playhey will discuss
The event was chaired by General Sir Richard Barrons KCB CBE, Commander Joint Forces Command (2013-2016) and Co-Chairman of Universal Defence & Security Solutions.
As US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy & Force Development, Elbridge A. Colby was the lead architect of the 2018 National Defense Strategy, the most significant revision of US defence strategy in a generation and in his new book, he argues that the best way for the US to avoid a war with China is to prepare for a war, by recruiting an ‘anti-hegemonic coalition’ in the region sufficient to overcome Chinese power. Gideon Rachman is the multi-awarding winning Chief Foreign Commentator of the Financial Times, the author of Easternisation and Zero-Sum World, whose particular interests include American foreign policy and globalisation.
To watch the webinar in full, please click here.
To buy a copy of the book at a specially discounted price of £21, click here and enter the promotion code Y2212.
FULL SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
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. He is the author of The Strategy Of Denial: American Defense In An Age Of Great Power Conflict (YUP), which The Wall Street Journal selected as one of the top ten books of 2021. From 2018-2019, he was the Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where he led the Center’s work on defense issues. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development from 2017-2018, where he was the lead official in the development and rollout of the Department’s preeminent strategic planning guidance, the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS). From 2014 to 2017, he was the Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow at CNAS. From 2010 to 2013 he was principal analyst and division lead for global strategic affairs at CNA. He served for over five years in the US Government working on a range of strategic forces, arms control, WMD and intelligence reform matters, including service with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in 2003 and with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence during its stand-up in 2005-2006. Colby has also served on the staff of a number of government commissions, including the 2014 National Defense Panel, the 2008-2009 Strategic Posture Commission, and the 2004-2005 President’s WMD Commission. He has testified before Congress and the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is a recipient of the Distinguished and Exceptional Public Service Awards from the Department of Defense and of the Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards from the Department of State. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute of Strategic Studies, Colby is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.
GIDEON RACHMAN is chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times. He writes a weekly column for the FT and hosts an international-affairs podcast. His main interests include geopolitics in Asia, US foreign policy and the future of the EU. Rachman won the Orwell Prize for journalism (2016) and was also named commentator of the year in the European Press Prize awards in 2016. He has written three books on international politics – Zero-Sum World (2011), Easternisation (2016) and Age Of The Strongman (2021). He is also a regular public speaker, appearing before both academic and business audiences.