Partners, Not Protectorates

The United States says it is not leaving Asia.

But that does not mean the alliance system will remain the same.

Elbridge Colby’s Manila speech points to a deeper change in what Washington may now expect from its Asian partners—and in how the First Island Chain could be defended in the years ahead.

This DKI Defense Analysis Brief examines the strategic meaning behind that shift without reducing it to a simple burden-sharing debate.

Partners, Not Protectorates

What is Washington really asking its allies to become?

Stop Reading Headlines. Start Seeing Structure.