USSC senior fellow Charles Edel and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Siddharth Mohandas write that even though US allies in the Indo-Pacific are essential to meeting the challenge of a rising, assertive China, US defence policy has not adapted to the reality of a changed strategic environment or the evolving needs and defence priorities of key allies. In the article, published by CNAS, Edel and Mohandas argue that the new National Defense Strategy presents an opportunity for the next secretary of defense to do three things to remedy this.