Breaking the New Axis: A U.S. Grand Strategy for Eurasia

by Seth Cropsey, Harry Halem

Overview

Blending history, strategy, and policy, this analysis presents a comprehensive U.S. approach to countering the coordinated threat posed by China, Russia, and Iran. It outlines how America can exploit their shared weaknesses and secure strategic dominance across Eurasia through military preparedness, alliance-building, and coherent grand strategy. 

This innovative work fundamentally redefines how the United States should approach grand strategy when confronting the “New Axis” of China, Russia, and Iran by revealing their critical weaknesses—internal pressures, lack of cohesive coordination, and short-term thinking—and presenting a unique opportunity for America to turn the tide. 

Authors Seth Cropsey and Harry Halem meticulously explain why Eurasia, the world’s largest landmass and historically the epicenter of power, remains strategically paramount. Structured into four compelling sections, Breaking the New Axis guides readers through the intricacies of geopolitics, strategy, and large-scale combat: exploring Eurasian strategic thought, dissecting threats from revisionist powers, examining defense technology's role, and demanding U.S. strategic coherence. The book offers actionable solutions, with a detailed roadmap for preparing the United States to deter and, if necessary, win a Eurasian-wide war: revitalizing the defense industrial base, reorganizing command-and-control for combat, leveraging strategic intelligence, and strengthening alliances across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. 

Engaging, deeply insightful, and unequivocally urgent, Breaking the New Axis is an indispensable read for policymakers, strategists, and anyone invested in global stability.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798899190032
Publisher:	Naval Institute Press
Publication date:	04/21/2026
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Seth Cropsey is the founder and president of Yorktown Institute. He served as a naval officer and as Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy. He has authored two books on U.S. naval power, Mayday: The Decline of American Naval Supremacy (2014) and Seablindness: How Political Neglect Is Choking American Seapower and What to Do About It (2017). He is a member of the Naval War College Press Advisory Board and publishes frequently on strategy and U.S. foreign policy in major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal. Cropsey lives in Bethesda, MD.

Harry Halem is Senior Fellow at Yorktown Institute, Senior Fellow in Defense at the London-based Policy Exchange, and a Younger Generation Leader in Euro-Atlantic Security. He holds an MA in philosophy and international relations from the University of St Andrews, an MSc in political theory from the London School of Economics (LSE), and is a doctoral candidate in international relations at LSE. He frequently advises financial institutions on defense technology and future warfare and often works on Eastern European operational and strategic questions. He has published in noted military-focused outlets like Parameters and Military Strategy magazine. Halem lives in London.

Seth Cropsey is the founder and president of Yorktown Institute. He served as a naval officer and as Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy. He has authored two books on U.S. naval power, Mayday: The Decline of American Naval Supremacy (2014) and Seablindness: How Political Neglect Is Choking American Seapower and What to Do About It (2017). He is a member of the Naval War College Press Advisory Board and publishes frequently on strategy and U.S. foreign policy in major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal. Cropsey lives in Bethesda, MD. 

Editorial Reviews

"Breaking the Axis opens the strategic aperture on Eurasia and delivers a comprehensive, compelling, and much—needed approach to counter and prevail against the combined intentions and actions of Russia, Iran, and China.  Moreover, Cropsey and Halem show that thoughtful, informed strategic thinking can—and must—replace the reactive crisis—response drift of recent decades."—Adm. Gary Roughead, USN (Ret.), the 29th Chief of Naval Operations and Distinguished Military Fellow at the Hoover Institution

From the Publisher