Ely Ratner

Ely Ratner is a principal at the Marathon Initiative. He served as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs from 2021-2025.

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Articles by Ely Ratner
An illustration shows Donald Trump with his back toward a map of the land masses of Taiwan and Japan with the shape of China to his left.
An illustration shows Donald Trump with his back toward a map of the land masses of Taiwan and Japan with the shape of China to his left.

Washington’s Silence in Asia Is a Gift to Beijing This article has an audio recording

Analysis
Mira Rapp-Hooper, Ely Ratner
US President Donald Trump (R) and China's President Xi Jinping arrive for a working session on the first day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, on July 7, 2017. Leaders of the world's top economies gather from July 7 to 8, 2017 in Germany for likely the stormiest G20 summit in years, with disagreements ranging from wars to climate change and global trade. / AFP PHOTO / Patrik STOLLARZ (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump (R) and China's President Xi Jinping arrive for a working session on the first day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, on July 7, 2017. Leaders of the world's top economies gather from July 7 to 8, 2017 in Germany for likely the stormiest G20 summit in years, with disagreements ranging from wars to climate change and global trade. / AFP PHOTO / Patrik STOLLARZ (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)

The State Department Is Tilting Dangerously Toward China

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Ely Ratner
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 01: U.S. President Donald Trump announces his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015. The agreement is intended to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming to a manageable level. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 01: U.S. President Donald Trump announces his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015. The agreement is intended to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming to a manageable level. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Why Abandoning Paris Is a Disaster for America

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Daniel B. Baer, Daniel Benjamin, Hal Brands, Reuben E. Brigety II, Sharon Burke, Derek Chollet, Sheba Crocker, Dan Feldman, Jon Finer, Nina Hachigian, Colin Kahl, Kelly Magsamen, Tom Malinowski, Jeffrey Prescott, Ely Ratner, Vikram Singh, Julie Smith, Jake Sullivan, Jim Townsend
US President Donald Trump (R) welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) to the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump (R) welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) to the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

The United States Is Losing Asia to China

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Ely Ratner, Samir Kumar
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How to Get Tough on China, in Six Easy Steps

Shadow Government 2017-2021
Ely Ratner
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China’s Middle East Tightrope

Argument
Ilan Goldenberg, Ely Ratner
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Making Bank

Argument
Ely Ratner
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China Has Russia Over a Barrel

Argument
Ely Ratner, Elizabeth Rosenberg
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Just How Worrying Is China’s Standoff With Vietnam?

ChinaFile
Daniel Kliman, Ely Ratner, Orville Schell, Susan Shirk
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The False Cry of the Pivot Deniers

Argument
Ely Ratner
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Pivot to Asia: ‘Why Keep up the Charade?’

ChinaFile
Yuki Tatsumi, Ely Ratner, Shogo Suzuki, Edward Luttwak, Wu Jianmin, Daniel Blumenthal
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Roiling the Waters

In Box
Elbridge Colby, Ely Ratner
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Economic Experiments and the Battle for East Asia

Argument
Ely Ratner
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Has Foggy Bottom Forgotten Asia?

Argument
Ely Ratner
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The Most Dangerous Border in the World

Argument
Ely Ratner, Alexander Sullivan
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