Retrench, Defend, and Compete

Charles L. Glaser, presents in Retrench, Defend, Compete, a controversial strategy for securing vital US interests in the face of China's rise. Contrary to common fears, China's rise should not drive the US and China into wargeography and nuclear weapons should enable the United States to remain highly secure. Glaser contends the real danger lies in regional disputes in East Asiaespecially over Taiwan. To reduce the risk of war, Glaser makes a bold case for ending the US security commitment to Taiwan and carefully calibrating its policies on protecting maritime features in the South China Sea. At the same time, the US should strengthen its alliances with Japan and South Korea and eliminate unnecessarily provocative nuclear and conventional weapons policies. These measures, Glaser argues, would defuse China's biggest security concerns while preserving America's core strategic interests. Fusing insights from international relations theory with clear-eyed policy analysis, Retrench, Defend, Compete lays out a distinctive and compelling approach for managing the world's most consequential geopolitical rivalrybefore it's too late.