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Magnified US dollar bill

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

May 20, 2025

Why the US cannot afford to lose dollar dominance

By Martin Mühleisen, Valbona Zeneli

Since World War II, US geopolitical influence has been compounded by the role of the dollar as the world’s dominant currency. As global economic power becomes more diffuse and strategic competitors “dedollarize,” policymakers must determine how to maintain the dollar’s role at the center of global trade and financial networks.

Economy & Business Fiscal and Structural Reform

Global Foresight series

Global Strategy series

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The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and the world.

Content

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Dec 21, 2022

Global Foresight 2023

In this year’s Global Foresight edition, our experts identify the top risks and opportunities for 2023. Our foresight team spots “snow leopards” that could have major unexpected impacts in 2023 and beyond. And we share findings from our survey of global strategists and foresight practitioners on how human affairs could unfold over the next decade.

Military drone operators in eastern Ukraine

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Nov 30, 2022

Preparing for victory: A long-haul strategy to help Ukraine win the war against Russia—and secure the peace

By Stephen J. Hadley, William Taylor, John E. Herbst, Matthew Kroenig, Melinda Haring, and Jeffrey Cimmino

Ukraine’s counteroffensives, backed by expanded and accelerated US and allied support, continue to push Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory, although at a reduced rate. These hard-won successes, however, bring with them possible challenges that also must be addressed. 

Europe & Eurasia Politics & Diplomacy

Report

Feb 8, 2022

Global Strategy 2022: Thwarting Kremlin aggression today for constructive relations tomorrow

By John E. Herbst, Anders Åslund, David J. Kramer, Alexander Vershbow, and Brian Whitmore

How can the United States and its partners counter the Kremlin’s aggressive policies abroad while laying the groundwork for what could one day be a mutually beneficial relationship with a Russia that respects the rule of law and international norms?

Disinformation Eastern Europe

Report

Dec 22, 2021

Seizing the advantage: A vision for the next US national defense strategy

By Clementine G. Starling-Daniels, Tyson Wetzel, Christian Trotti

In this latest installment of the Atlantic Council Strategy Papers series, Forward Defense’s Clementine Starling, Lt Col Tyson Wetzel, and Christian Trotti articulate their vision and recommendations for the next US National Defense Strategy, including clearer prioritization, investments and divestments, reposturing of US forces, a new warfighting concept, and a focus on transnational threats like hybrid warfare and climate change.

China Defense Industry

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Dec 21, 2021

Welcome to 2030: Three visions of what the world could look like in ten years

By Anca Agachi, Mathew Burrows

Well into the 2020s, COVID-19 will cast a long shadow over communities, workplaces, markets, battlefields, and negotiating rooms. But even as the centrifugal forces driving the world away from multilateralism and toward multipolarity accelerate, the future is not fixed. We humans have agency in shaping it.

Climate Change & Climate Action Coronavirus

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Dec 21, 2021

Six ‘snow leopards’ to watch for in 2022

By Peter Engelke

Because it receives little attention in the press, the snow leopard does not appear significant enough to warrant much scrutiny as a driver of change and shaper of the future. Yet just like the real cat in the wild, the figurative snow leopard is something that could sneak up and vividly remind us that it exists.

Climate Change & Climate Action Coronavirus

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Dec 21, 2021

Global Foresight 2022

The inaugural edition of a new annual report from the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, home for the last decade to one of the world’s premier strategic foresight shops.

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Dec 21, 2021

The top twelve risks and opportunities for 2022

By Mathew Burrows, Robert A. Manning

With ongoing vaccination challenges in much of the world and the worrying emergence of the Omicron variant, along with supply bottlenecks plus rising inflation and debt, the pandemic continues to exert its relentless push and pull on a beleaguered world.

Climate Change & Climate Action Conflict
Cover credit: Helen Lundeberg, “The Veil,” 1947, The Macfarlane Collection

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Apr 11, 2021

The future of security in space: A thirty-year US strategy

By Clementine G. Starling, Mark J. Massa, Lt Col Christopher P. Mulder, and Julia T. Siegel

Outer space is rapidly transforming as new actors test new limits. This Atlantic Council Strategy Paper calls for the United States and its allies and partners to secure space over the next three decades or risk wasting the promise of this emerging domain.

China Cybersecurity

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Jan 28, 2021

The Longer Telegram: Toward a new American China strategy

By Anonymous

China presents the most important challenge to the United States in the twenty-first century. To address this challenge, the United States urgently needs "an integrated, operational, and bipartisan national strategy."

China