Elbridge A. Colby

Elbridge A. Colby
U.S. Department of Defense · Public domain · source
Name	Elbridge A. Colby
Birth date	1974
Occupation	Policy maker, author, strategist
Nationality	American

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Elbridge A. Colby

Elbridge A. Colby is an American national security strategist and author known for his influence on United States defense policy, national security strategy, and U.S. foreign relations debates. He has served in senior positions within the United States Department of Defense, contributed to think tanks such as the Center for a New American Security and the American Enterprise Institute, and authored works addressing China–United States relations, strategic competition, and great power competition. Colby's perspectives have intersected with officials from the Trump administration, the Biden administration, and analysts across Congress, the Department of State, and the National Security Council.

Early life and education

Colby was raised in the United States and pursued higher education at institutions including Williams College and Stanford University (where he undertook graduate studies). He studied subjects relating to international affairs and strategic studies alongside contemporaries from Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and Columbia University. During his academic formation he engaged with faculty from Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, LSE, Oxford University, and Cambridge University, and participated in seminars that included speakers from RAND Corporation, the Brookings Institution, and the Hoover Institution.

Colby's career includes service as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development in the Office of the Secretary of Defense during the Trump administration, where he worked on the formulation of the 2018 National Defense Strategy and related documents alongside officials from Secretary of Defense James Mattis's team, advisors to President Donald Trump, and counterparts in the Department of the Navy, United States Army, and United States Air Force. He has held fellowships and research positions at the Center for a New American Security, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Atlantic Council, contributing to projects with staff from the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and Council on Foreign Relations. Colby has testified before committees in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, interacting with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and staff from the Congressional Research Service.

Colby has also been a visiting lecturer and adjunct at universities and war colleges such as the Harvard Kennedy School, the Naval War College, and the National War College, engaging with military officers from United States Indo-Pacific Command, United States European Command, and allied staffs from NATO, Japan Self-Defense Forces, and Australian Defence Force. He has collaborated with analysts from MiTRE Corporation, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Foreign Policy Research Institute on wargaming and scenario planning for contingencies involving People's Republic of China, Russian Federation, and regional actors like India, Japan, and South Korea.

Colby argues for a strategy that prioritizes countering the People's Republic of China as a revisionist power, emphasizing deterrence and force posture in the Indo-Pacific to dissuade aggression toward partners such as Taiwan, Philippines, and South Korea. He advocates for modernizing U.S. capabilities in areas including missile defense, undersea warfare, cybersecurity, and space operations, aligning with policy proposals from think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Atlantic Council while also engaging critics at the Center for American Progress and New America. Colby supports integrating economic tools alongside military options, coordinating with institutions such as the U.S. Treasury Department, United States Trade Representative, and multilateral bodies like the World Trade Organization and ASEAN to impose costs on coercive behavior. His positions have provoked debate with scholars from Princeton Project on National Security, Cornell University, and University of Chicago, and with officials associated with past administrations including Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Colby is the author of books and numerous articles in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, and has contributed chapters to volumes published by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and the Brookings Institution Press. His writings address great power competition, deterrence theory, and strategic planning, engaging with literature from scholars at Stanford University, Yale University Press, and Princeton University Press. He has participated in editorial projects alongside authors from Johns Hopkins University Press and contributed to policy briefs circulated by the Center for a New American Security, American Enterprise Institute, and the Hoover Institution. Colby has been quoted and cited in reporting by The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Financial Times, and NPR.

Colby has received recognition from policy and academic institutions including awards or fellowships associated with the American Enterprise Institute, Center for a New American Security, and the Atlantic Council. His work has been cited in congressional hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee and referenced in strategic assessments produced by the Department of Defense, RAND Corporation, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He has been invited to speak at forums hosted by Munich Security Conference, Aspen Security Forum, World Economic Forum, and the Cato Institute, and has received commendations from colleagues at United States European Command and allied diplomatic missions from United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.

Category:American foreign policy writers Category:United States Department of Defense officials