  Comparing perturbative calculations with a lattice computation of the static
energy in quantum chromodynamics at short distances, we obtain a determination
of the strong coupling alpha_s. Our determination is performed at a scale of
around 1.5 GeV (the typical distance scale of the lattice data) and, when
evolved to the Z-boson mass scale M_Z, it corresponds to
alpha_s(M_Z)=0.1156^{+0.0021}_{-0.0022}.
