Author Archive

James Siebens

Stimson Center

James Siebens is a Fellow with the Stimson Center’s "Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy" program, where he leads the Defense Strategy and Planning project. He is the editor of China’s Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting, and a co-editor of Military Coercion and U.S. Foreign Policy: The Use of Force Short of War (Routledge 2020), a book on U.S. strategy and military operations since the end of the Cold War. His research focuses on grand strategy, foreign military intervention, and gray-zone conflict. Siebens is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds an M.A. in International Affairs: Global Security from American University’s School of International Service.
Ideas

Three ideas for countering China in the gray zone

The U.S. ought to pull a few new tools from its military-diplomatic-informational toolbox.

Ideas

Pull the Nukes from Turkey — and Then Think Bigger

Removing America’s nuclear weapons from Incirlik Air Base doesn’t have to drive a permanent wedge between Washington and Turkey.

Ideas

We Don’t Need Airstrikes to Restore Deterrence in the Strait of Hormuz

Recent history shows that a restrained, multilateral military response can help restore stability.

Ideas

Concession...or Common Sense? Trading Drills for Dialogue

Except for taking Seoul by surprise, Trump’s decision to halt US-ROK exercises has plenty of precedent.

Ideas

How Postponing a Wargame Helped Create a Diplomatic Opening

Delaying Foal Eagle 2018 made an underappreciated contribution toward the first meeting of U.S. and North Korean heads of state.

Threats

What Syrian-Peace Negotiators in Geneva Must Learn from Russia

Unless this latest round acknowledges battlefield reality, the UN-sponsored talks will continue their slide into irrelevance.