The State of (Deterrence by) Denial
Elbridge Colby and Walter Slocombe
March 22, 2021
America should act now to strengthen its Western Pacific forward posture. Neglecting it further raises the risk of war — and defeat.
It is now widely understood that dealing with the threat that China poses in Asia should be the Department of Defense’s top priority. The administration of President Joe Biden has acknowledged this, stating that China will be the defense establishment’s “pacing†threat. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s just-released Pacific Deterrent Initiative request for the Fiscal Year 22 budget makes clear how urgent the situation is. The Department of Defense, the White House, and Congress should use this opportunity to make meaningful progress on this front.
Clear declaration of priority is all to the good. Asia, and China’s threat there, should be the Defense Department’s top priority. Ensuring the continued security of U.S. allies and partners in Asia — and thereby a sustainable balance of power — is a central U.S. interest that is in increasing peril. But it is one thing to say that America needs to address the military challenge that China poses in Asia, and quite another to actually field the critical element of an effective forward defense in the theater — in other words, a force that is readily available and capable of blunting a Chinese attack against U.S. allies, including Taiwan.
https://warontherocks.com/2021/03/the-state-of-deterrence-by-denial/
