Strategy
- A practical approach to complex national-security questions.
I think about strategy as the connection between objectives, available resources, institutional constraints, and risk. This page outlines the general approach I use to examine difficult policy questions and the areas that most often inform my work.
How I Approach Strategy
Good strategy does not eliminate uncertainty. It provides a disciplined way to understand the situation, make choices, and adjust as conditions change. My approach generally begins with three questions.
Understand the Environment
Start with the political, operational, economic, and institutional conditions surrounding the issue. This includes identifying the interests of the parties involved, the assumptions shaping the discussion, and the constraints that may limit available choices
Clarify the Decision
Define the decision that actually needs to be made. Separating the central question from related concerns makes it easier to compare options, identify tradeoffs, and explain what each course of action may require.
Connect Plans to Action
Consider how a proposed approach would work in practice. Objectives, resources, authorities, timelines, and measures of progress should support one another while leaving room to respond to changing circumstances.
AREAS OF FOCUS
My professional interests include several connected areas of national-security policy and decision-making.
Defense Strategy and Force Planning
Questions involving defense priorities, capability choices, force planning, institutional reform, and the relationship between long-term objectives and present-day requirements.
Congressional Affairs and Policy
The interaction among policy, legislation, oversight, funding, and the communication required to help public institutions understand complex defense issues.
International Partnerships.
How the United States and its partners build cooperation, manage differing interests, strengthen interoperability, and respond to shared security concerns
Intelligence and Technical Analysis
The use of intelligence, technical evidence, and structured analysis to clarify uncertainty, test assumptions, and support informed decisions.
Related Analysis
Selected essays examining strategic competition, economic interdependence, and the assumptions that influence policy choices.
- Aug 15, 2026
How Interdependence Became Rivalry
Economic integration was expected to constrain strategic competition. Instead, the networks connecting the United States and China have created new vulnerabilities, sources of leverage, and instruments of economic pressure.
- Aug 23, 2026
The Problem With “Winning” the China Competition
Calls to win the competition with China often leave victory undefined. This analysis considers how unclear objectives can encourage overreach, distort policy choices, and make a long-term rivalry more difficult to manage.
Contact
For questions or general inquiries related to the subjects covered on this site, please use the contact page.