Ely Ratner Quoted in The Washington Post

May 30, 2025
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Top U.S. military officials have insisted that, for all of Trump’s disruption, there’s not much rupture in the U.S.’s Asia strategy. In a Foreign Affairs essay this week, Ely Ratner, a former assistant defense secretary in the Biden administration, argued the foundations remained for the White House to push for a far-reaching “collective defense pact” to counter China in the Pacific.

“As far as defense matters are concerned, there has been far more continuity than disruption to date,” Ratner wrote. “Provided the administration avoids debilitating economic measures targeting U.S. allies, the trends pointing the way toward collective defense in the region are likely to endure.”


The Washington Post
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About

Dr. Ely Ratner is a principal at The Marathon Initiative and formerly served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.