Publications

May 18, 2023

The top-line fact in the weapons to Ukraine or Taiwan debate

Washington Examiner | Elbridge Colby and Alex Velez-Green note the basic point in their Washington Post op-ed on Thursday. As they put it, "The fact is that both Ukraine and Taiwan need many of the same weapons, the United States only has limited quantities of those weapons in....
May 18, 2023

To avert war with China, the U.S. must prioritize Taiwan over Ukraine

The Washington Post | Prioritization is never easy — but it is long overdue. The administration and Congress have rightly described China as the preeminent threat to the United States, but they have not acted with the focus, scale and urgency needed to address it....
May 17, 2023

Why a ballistic sub can visit South Korea but not Japan

Nikkei Asia | Former Pentagon official Elbridge Colby called the port call "meaningless" in a recent webinar hosted by the Institute for Korean-American Studies." A ballistic missile submarine can launch a ...
May 4, 2023

China Could Soon Be the Dominant Military Power in Asia

The Atlantic | “The military balance between the U.S. and China in Asia is ‘very delicate and trending in an unfavorable direction in this decade for the U.S. and its allies,’ Elbridge Colby, a co-founder of the Marathon Initiative…”
April 29, 2023

DeSantis critical of China, hazy on Ukraine as he charts foreign policy path

The Washington Post | “By a large margin the Republican primary vote seems very far from the GOP old guard on foreign policy,” Colby said in a statement to The Washington Post. “And the truth is that the voters’ views are actually closer to reality:......
April 28, 2023

Declaration May Not Ease South Korea’s Concern Over U.S. Nuclear Commitment

VOA | The Washington Declaration and the NCG are "useful and productive steps," according to Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Strategy and Force Development and the cofounder of The Marathon Initiative, a Washington-based institution focused on providing foreign and defense policy recommendations..... ....
April 28, 2023

WPR: The U.S. Still Needs Europe to Compete with China

World Politics Review | One argument, as captured well by former Trump administration Pentagon official Elbridge Colby, is that since China is the principal threat to the U.S. and seems poised to take increasingly more aggressive actions toward Taiwan,......
April 27, 2023

Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2023

Washingtonian | Elbridge Colby, Marathon Initiative Cofounder and Principal, included on Washingtonian’s list of the DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2023....
April 25, 2023

A Critical Debate on the Ukraine-Taiwan Weapons Trade-Off

Washington Examiner | The Hudson Institute think tank hosted a much-needed debate on Monday. The motion: "Winning in Ukraine is critically important for deterring a war in Taiwan." Hudson's President John Walters proposed the motion, with the Marathon Initiative's Elbridge Colby opposing......
April 24, 2023

The New Hampshire Primary is That Soon?

The Hugh Hewitt Show | The first primary in the nation is no more than 10 months away. Hugh reviews the calendar and explains why he's headed north earlier this year than ever before as Teams Trump,......