March 13, 2019

Sayers and Colby at The Heritage Foundation: The Indo-Pacific after INF

By: Elbridge Colby, Eric Sayers and Jeff M. Smith

After six years of failed attempts to get Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty obligations, the U.S. officially announced its intention to withdraw from the treaty on December 4, 2018. To date, much of the discussion surrounding the U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty has focused on the implications for Russia, the European Union, and trans-Atlantic relations. Far less attention has been devoted to the implications for U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific. Specifically, what does America’s withdrawal from the INF treaty mean for U.S. partners and allies in the region? How does this decision stand to effect the conventional military balance in the region? What are the implications for U.S.-China relations and how has it been received in Beijing, which is not a party to the INF treaty and has been investing in its land-based missile capabilities for decades?

Elbridge Colby, Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security, and Eric Sayers, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center, visited The Heritage Foundation for a conversation moderated by Jeff M. Smith, a Research Fellow in the The Heritage Foundation's South Asia Program.

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