On 1 October, the U.S. federal government ushers in its Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. If policymakers approve the $738 billion national defense budget – the amount agreed to by the White House and Congressional leaders in a July 2019 agreement – military spending will have increased in real terms for the fifth consecutive year.

A new CSBA report proposes a U.S.-led military strategy and operational concept to deter Chinese aggression in the Western Pacific and defeat its A2/AD network from the inside-out.