America is overextended. Here’s a better way forward.

July 2, 2025

The “simultaneity problem,” as it’s known in military circles, has been the most serious grand strategic challenge facing the United States for some time now. The past two National Defense Strategies made clear that the U.S. is prepared to militarily confront only one major adversary, and that it should be China. And to do that, it needs to find ways of reducing U.S. commitments in Europe and the Middle East, ideally without producing intolerable risks in those theaters.


Washington Post
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Dr. A. Wess Mitchell is co-founder and principal at The Marathon Initiative, a policy initiative focused on developing strategies to prepare the United States for an era of sustained great power competition.