All articles tagged with #elbridge colby
The US administration has excluded the UK, France, and the Baltic states from a select NATO working group meeting in Poland, raising concerns about alliance fragmentation.
The Pentagon is expanding the U.S. nuclear arsenal to provide President Trump with more limited strike options, a move that has gone largely unnoticed by the media despite being disclosed to the Senate. Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby argues that these new capabilities, including lower-yield bombs and sea-launched missiles, are necessary to deter threats from Russia, China, and Iran without resorting to total annihilation. While the Senate Armed Services Committee has been briefed, public debate remains absent, raising concerns about democratic oversight of nuclear policy.
The Trump administration is excluding major allies, including the UK, France, and Baltic states, from a Pentagon-led NATO working group in Poland. This exclusion follows Washington’s recent threats to penalize allies not meeting defense spending targets, raising concerns about alliance cohesion amid Russian aggression.
The United States publicly rebuked European NATO allies for capability gaps described as a “sea of red” as it reviews US deployments in Europe, urging faster European investment in conventional weapons to enable Europe to lead its own defense. Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby pressed allies in Brussels, praising some like the UK while pointing to gaps in others, and Washington circulated a written questionnaire on base access, US weapon purchases, and support for Trump’s policy. The debate ties to Trump-era pressure to raise defence spending toward 5% of GDP by 2035, with several allies already near or meeting 3.5%, and the outcome could influence future US weapons and troop withdrawals.
The Vatican rejected media claims that Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the pope’s U.S. representative, was given a “bitter lecture” during a January Pentagon meeting with U.S. defense officials, saying the encounter was a normal, cordial exchange. The Department of Defense described the meeting as substantive and respectful, noting discussions on morality in foreign policy and other topics, while the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See echoed Pierre’s account of a frank but courteous meeting.
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby told senators that the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran is not an endless war or regime change, arguing it’s a targeted action that fits within a refreshed national defense strategy prioritizing homeland and Western Hemisphere defense and encouraging allies to do more, while Democrats question the messaging and Republicans seek congressional oversight on further attacks.
Elbridge Colby, a rising star in the Republican Party, is leading an insurgent wing rebelling against decades of dominant interventionist and Reaganite thinking. Colby believes that China is the principal threat abroad and that the United States should focus on Asia to the near-exclusion of everywhere else, including Russia and Ukraine. He is part of the mounting revival of the Asia First doctrine that the party championed in the aftermath of World War II. Colby's views are advancing with lightning speed, and he is making appearances in influential settings.