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Mar 2 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
A Strategy Reading List

Some Twitter friends asked for a strategy-related reading list. Here are some thoughts. I've focused on books that may be a bit off the beaten path. Clausewitz, Politics Among Nations, etc. should be on any good list!

Here goes...1/
Robert Komer.

Komer is an underappreciated strategist. Exceptionally lucid and penetrating. Very sensible. "Blowtorch" mind.

"Maritime Strategy or Coalition Defense" really helped my thinking in the Pentagon. Remains very relevant. 2/

amazon.com/Maritime-Strat…
His study on Vietnam "Bureaucracy Does Its Thing" is also masterful. I remember reading it when I returned from my stint as a civilian in Iraq and thinking: Wow. This nailed what happened. Eerie. 3/

rand.org/pubs/reports/R…
Robert Osgood.

Osgood's work on limited war was seminal.

His book "Nuclear Dilemmas in American Strategic Thought" is one of the most penetrating but underappreciated contributions laying out the key ways of thinking about nuclear strategy. 4/

amazon.com/Nuclear-Dilemm…
James Schlesinger.

He's famous as a SecDef. But his analytical writings were very penetrating and much more sound than, say, Kissinger's or many of the other poobahs. I think Schlesinger's record holds up best in terms of strategic vision during the Cold War. 5/
I particularly recommend his "Strategic Consequences of Nuclear Proliferation." A more sober and analytical approach to the problem than you'll find almost anywhere. 6/

apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA04…
Hans Morgenthau is of course famous for Politics Among Nations. Justly a classic. But I also found his Scientific Man and Power Politics especially penetrating. Well worth it. 7/

amazon.com/Scientific-Ver…
Robert Gilpin.

Huge fan. Underrated thinker even with a great deal of influence. His War and Change is rightly famous. But his work on the interplay between int'l politics and political economy are really valuable. 8/

amazon.com/Political-Econ…
Dale Copeland is also a fantastic thinker along these lines. Brings together power considerations with political economy in ways that are really helpful in understanding how international relations really work. 9/

amazon.com/Economic-Inter…
A lot of the nuclear strategy canon is well known. This volume, Limited Strategic War, is an underappreciated part of it. Great piece in it for instance by Tom Schelling, a true giant. 10/

amazon.com/Limited-Strate…
Henry Kissinger.

In my view, overrated as a statesman. But a phenomenal writer and thinker, albeit not always systematic or logical. Place to start is Diplomacy. It's his strong suit: History, character sketches, philosophical insights, the West. 11/

amazon.com/Diplomacy-Touc…
Also A World Restored. Even if not always historically reliable, a fantastic meditation on statecraft and strategy. 12/

amazon.com/World-Restored…
Edward Luttwak: A master strategist who broke new ground in multiple areas.

One book where he really put his finger on it is Turbo Capitalism, anticipating many of the economic issues we're facing today. 13/

amazon.com/Turbo-Capitali…
William Odom: A great strategist and really clear-headed thinker. One of the few to get Iraq War right, for instance.

This book really shaped my thinking on America's role in the world. (The title is a bit misleading.) 14/

amazon.com/Americas-Inadv…
Nicholas Spykman:

This book is a must read. Balance of power, regions, hegemony. The good stuff. 15/

amazon.com/Americas-Strat…
No list is complete without the peerless Bob Kaplan. There are many of Bob's works well worth consulting, but his book on the Balkans is one that had a huge impact at the time and an area he knows very well. 15/

amazon.com/Balkan-Ghosts-…

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More from @ElbridgeColby

Elbridge Colby Profile picture
Mar 4
U.S. shouldn't put its bets on China's demographics leading to near/medium-term decline.

I'm not an economist but was exchanging notes with someone who is a very good one. Some key points on this. 1/
A declining working-age population generally portends slower economic growth, as observed in Japan and Europe over the past decade.

But while demographic headwinds will eventually catch-up with China, internal migration should push the day of reckoning far into the future. 2/
Most of the growth in China’s effective labor force over the past 20 years has come from urbanization, with more than 270 million people leaving the countryside for employment opportunities in cities over this period. Even after this massive influx...3/
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Mar 3
US relations with Germany should be in crisis. Instead Washington bends over backwards for Berlin. This has to change.

"a year on, Germany’s armed forces are in an even worse condition than when the war started, according to military commanders..." 1/

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"...and Mr. Scholz has struggled to invest any extra in the depleted military."

It's insane that Washington is not heavily and insistently pressing Berlin to live up to its most basic NATO commitments. This policy is 180 from what US and NATO interests require. 2/
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Mar 3
"Biden’s triumphant visit to Kyiv gives way to a sober war reality."

This reality was evident months ago. We don't have time for unrealism. But at least it now seems to be settling into conventional wisdom. 1/

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"A renewed and brutal Russian offensive is making incremental progress along the front, and Moscow may be poised to receive assistance from China..." 2/
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“We must be honest about this. Ambition and reality are diverging.” 3/
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Elbridge Colby Profile picture
Feb 28
Retired USAF General Mike "Mobile" Holmes:

🎯👇

"The fundamental job of any leader is to identify priorities — challenges and opportunities — communicate them, and then make the hard choices necessary to make progress against these priorities." 1/
"The most pressing threat the PLA poses is a vast missile program designed to hold the U.S. military at arm’s length, now outnumbering the U.S. in launch capacity and possessing technical advantage in the form of hypersonic missiles designed to outmaneuver defenses. " 2/
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Elbridge Colby Profile picture
Feb 28
I'm delighted to contribute to the important American Sea Power Project series in Proceedings @USNINews @USNIBooks. In it I lay out what I think a strategy of denial means for the sea services. 1/

usni.org/magazines/proc…
BLUF: A strategy of denial requires a Navy and Marine Corps focused on denial defense along the first island chain in Asia. It does NOT mean "policing the sea lanes" or focusing on horizontal escalation. 2/
"The U.S. military’s role in a strategy of denial is central...Washington needs to ensure an effective denial defense along the first island chain, one that includes Taiwan within its perimeter." 3/
Read 21 tweets
Elbridge Colby Profile picture
Feb 28
The factor of *time* must be front and center in thinking about Ukraine, Taiwan, Russia, and China. *Time* is of the essence.

There is a awakening among our allies. But it will take years come to fruition.

Yet China may have the ability to seize Taiwan in just a few years. 1/
It is great that we have awakened to our problems, for instance with the defense industrial base or European/Japanese defense spending. But these problems are far from solved. In fact in some cases, like the DIB, they are actually getting *worse.* 2/
At the same time Xi Jinping has made clear he wants the ability to seize Taiwan by 2027. And China is undertaking a historic military buildup to do it. No one knows if or when Beijing might move; I certainly don't. But very credible evidence indicates they may be able to soon. 3/
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