Content

Issue Brief

Mar 31, 2021

Putin’s Mediterranean gambit: Endgame unclear

By Mark N. Katz

For more than 250 years, Russian leaders have sought to project power and influence in the Mediterranean region. Sometimes these efforts have met with a significant degree of success. At times, though, Russia has pulled back from the Mediterranean because of setbacks in the region, events in Europe, or convulsions inside Russia. These pullbacks, however, have never been permanent and have always been followed by renewed Russian efforts to gain influence in the region.

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

Issue Brief

Mar 29, 2021

The downsides of downsizing: Why the United States needs four hundred ICBMs

By Matthew Kroenig, Mark J. Massa, Christian Trotti

The United States is at a nuclear modernization crossroads. Critics of the land leg of the nuclear triad believe that an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force of 300 missiles will be cheaper and more stable than a force of 400. This issue brief shows that 400 ICBMs support the goals of US nuclear deterrence and are affordable.

China Defense Policy

Issue Brief

Mar 22, 2021

Iraqi diaspora mobilization and the future development of Iraq

By Dr. Oula Kadhum

In a new report, Dr. Oula Kadhum explores Iraqi diaspora mobilization before and after the 2003 invasion and fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Iraq Politics & Diplomacy
EU-Turkey

In-Depth Research & Reports

Mar 15, 2021

Europe’s geostrategic sovereignty and Turkey

By Bahadır Kaleağası

A more positive relationship between the European Union and Turkey is a decade-long project of advocates from all over Europe and across the Atlantic. Drawing on history, witnesses see how this relationship can be an excellent win-win algorithm, as much as it can rapidly turn out to be a lose-lose situation or even a triple win-or-lose equation—with political, economic, and social resonance reaching far beyond the Continent.

Climate Change & Climate Action Economy & Business
Women in Swiss security

In-Depth Research & Reports

Mar 8, 2021

NATO partnerships for Women, Peace, and Security

By Lisa Aronsson

Lisa A. Aronsson outlines the achievements and the implementation challenges NATO faces, and offers three sets of recommendations for overcoming institutional hurdles, leveraging non-NATO members, and reviving NATO's sense of purpose on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Issue Brief

Mar 5, 2021

Biden and Ukraine: A strategy for the new administration

By Anders Åslund, Daniel Fried, Melinda Haring, John E. Herbst, William B. Taylor, Alexander Vershbow

The United States has been an essential partner for Ukraine since the Kremlin's invasion in 2014. Now that Joe Biden has taken office, he has a real chance to move past the difficult detour that US-Ukraine relations took under his predecessor.

Conflict Corruption

Assumptions Testing Series

Mar 4, 2021

Assumption #2: Strategies of coercion are effective

By Erica Borghard

Policymakers should cultivate more realistic expectations about the likelihood that their coercive threats will work as intended, evaluate their full costs against their potential benefits, and invest more in deterrence and defense.

Issue Brief

Mar 4, 2021

It’s time to get serious about a pressure strategy to contain North Korea

By Andrea R. Mihailescu

A Biden administration North Korea Strategy should continue dialogue with Kim's government, backed by a variety of pressure and enforcement tactics, in order to strive for the goal of arms reduction.

Arms Control Economic Sanctions

Issue Brief

Mar 1, 2021

A primer on the proliferation of offensive cyber capabilities

By Winnona DeSombre, Michele Campobasso, Dr. Luca Allodi, Dr. James Shires, JD Work, Robert Morgus, Patrick Howell O’Neill, and Dr. Trey Herr

Offensive cyber capabilities run the gamut from sophisticated, long-term disruptions of physical infrastructure to malware used to target human rights journalists. As these capabilities continue to proliferate with increasing complexity and to new types of actors, the imperative to slow and counter their spread only strengthens.

Arms Control Conflict

Issue Brief

Feb 25, 2021

Delist or not delist: A $2.2 trillion US-China auditing dispute

By Jeremy Mark

The economic and financial forces set in motion by the COVID-10 pandemic—global recession and ultra-loose monetary policies that have driven a cross-border search for higher yield—have contributed to a slow shift of international capital toward China’s markets. Now, intensified US-China tensions—especially the targeting of Chinese companies for delisting from US stock markets—have the potential to heighten that trend.

China Economy & Business