On Defense Disrupted, Patrick Cronin breaks down what great power competition actually looks like beneath the diplomatic surface: a US-China tactical détente masking ongoing maritime coercion, an industrial capacity gap that stretches back to WWII, and a Chinese military doctrine built on escalation
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A production line of the Glide, a high-altitude glider that delivers munitions across thousands of miles, is seen at the defense tech startup Mach Industries in Huntington Beach, California, on September 11, 2025. (Getty Images)