Colby’s ‘Flexible Realism’ Won’t Work in the Indo-Pacific

Elbridge Colby, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, toured Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand to promote the Trump administration's 'flexible realism' defense strategy, which prioritizes shared interests over shared values and seeks 'partners, not protectorates' in countering China. In a Manila speech, Colby framed this as favoring a balance of power over American primacy, a break even from Trump's first term.

A USC analyst argues the approach reads to regional allies less as flexibility and more as unpredictability, citing Trump's own social media post downgrading routine U.S.-South Korea drills because North Korea objected. Colby himself has described the strategy as 'contextual,' meaning the U.S. response 'depends on the situation.'

The piece notes Washington is simultaneously demanding higher defense spending from partners like the Philippines who may be unable to meet the new burden-sharing targets, undercutting the stated goal of building a durable coalition against Beijing.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.