In Episode 261 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Elbridge Colby, co-founder and principal of The Marathon Initiative, an organization whose mission is to develop the diplomatic, military, and economic strategies that the United States will need to navigate a protracted era of great power competition. Colby has also served as US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development and was the chief architect of the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS), which was by some estimates the most significant revision of U.S. defense strategy since 9/11, if not since the end of the Cold War.
This is a conversation about the national security challenges that Elbridge Colby believes we face as a country, their urgency, and what is needed in terms of practical changes to our strategic objectives, the organization of our national defense, what we prioritize, and perhaps most importantly, our sense of mission, unity, and national purpose. Kofinas and Colby spend the first hour laying out the nature and scope of these challenges as they pertain to the Chinese Communist Party in particular, and to the degree that it acts in unison with Chinese objectives, the Russian Federation as well.
The second hour is broken into two parts, the first of which covers specifics on how to meet the challenge, while the second focuses on Taiwan where Elbridge makes the case for why he believes that an attack on the island nation by China is not only likely but may come much sooner than most pundits and military planners expect. The consequences of such an attack would not only be destabilizing for the current equilibrium in Asia, but could escalate into a global kinetic conflict with hypersonic missiles, space warfare, cyber-attacks, and God forbid, the use of nuclear weapons. Preventing such scenarios from unfolding should be at the very top of our list of national priorities. Today’s conversation is mean to help inform you about just how salient this threat is and what we can and perhaps should do about it.
You can access the full episode, transcript, and intelligence report to this week’s conversation by going directly to the episode page at HiddenForces.io and clicking on "premium extras." All subscribers gain access to our premium feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
If you enjoyed listening to today’s episode of Hidden Forces you can help support the show by doing the following:
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | CastBox | RSS Feed
Write us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify
Subscribe to our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at https://hiddenforces.io
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas
Episode Recorded on 07/19/2022
The End of the Beginning for Crypto | Michael Anderson & Vance Spencer of Framework Ventures
How to Position & Prepare Yourself for the End Game | Grant Williams
Global Food Shortages & the Need for Energy Security | Doomberg
How to Survive in the New Economic & Financial Order | Russell Napier
The Information War & Things Worth Fighting For | Demetri Kofinas
Preparing the U.S. & Europe for Russian Cyber Attacks | Chris Painter
Risks of Nuclear War & the Escalation Ladder | Jon Wolfsthal
The Battle for Ukraine & Prospects for World War III | Peter Zeihan
Hidden Forces Event in New York City | Thursday, March 31st
Quantifying Structural Risk in 'Zombified' Markets | Hari Krishnan & Ash Bennington
A History of Venture Capital & How to Make the Future | Sebastian Mallaby
Economic Warfare & the Weaponization of the Dollar | Julia Friedlander
Russia-Ukraine War & Risks of NATO-Russia Escalation | Dmitri Alperovitch
Nillion NMC: A Secure Processing Layer for Web3 | Miguel de Vega
Update on Ukraine & US-Russia Escalation
The PayPal Mafia & the Founders Who Shaped Silicon Valley | Jimmy Soni
Monetary Tightening & the End of the Risk-on Trade | Mohamed El-Erian
The Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, and the Problems of Philosophy | David Chalmers
Robinhood, Reddit, & the Revolt of the Retail Investor | Spencer Jakab
Why Did the Future Arrive First in Russia? | Peter Pomerantsev
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
NABOR® TALKS
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money