In-depth research and reports

The future of NATO C4ISR: Assessment and recommendations after Madrid

By Gordon B. “Skip” Davis Jr.

Current C4ISR capabilities, concepts, policies, and processes do not meet all of the Alliance’s needs. While much has been done to improve NATO C4ISR over the past decade, much work remains.

Improving Gulf security: A framework to enhance air, missile, and maritime defenses

By The Gulf Security Task Force

Looking at decades of US support and operations in the Gulf and recognizing a continued, arguably growing, air and maritime threat from Iran, the Atlantic Council Gulf Security Task Force developed a framework on how to best protect US and allies’ interests in this sensitive, always relevant region.

Inside Bangladesh’s new data protection laws

By Stephen Weymouth

The 2022 Draft Data Protection Act (DPA), which establishes new restrictions related to the processing, storage, and transfer of data, appears to move Bangladesh’s digital governance in a different direction.

Fractured foundations: Assessing risks to Hong Kong’s business environment

By Logan Wright

The report analyzes in detail the risks to the commercial operating environment in Hong Kong that have emerged since the 2020 introduction of the National Security Law.

China in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reaching far beyond natural resources

By Amin Mohseni-Cheraghlou and Naomi Aladekoba

What are the implications of China’s expanding involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa’s investment, trade, cultural, and security landscape?

Critical connectivity: Reducing the price of data in African markets

By Aubrey Hruby

This report analyzes the current state of the digital transformation in Africa and outlines how affordable and accessible data is imperative for further development.

Ten minutes at the border: Revving the US and Mexican economies

Atlantic Council research shows that a mere 10-minute reduction in wait times at the US-Mexico border can have increasingly positive effects on communities and economies on both sides of the border.

Beyond the US-Mexico border: Destination of final goods, environmental impact, and future scenarios for border relations

By Atlantic Council

Three complementary analyses on the value and final destination of northbound commercial trade flows; the environmental impact of idling vehicles at the US-Mexico border; and three potential scenarion for the future of US-Mexico relations.

Toward a trilateral Atlantic-Pacific community for the twenty-first century

By Ash Jain

As the world approaches a new era of strategic competition with revisionist autocracies, the existing transatlantic political, economic, and security entities need to be further expanded to build a trilateral Atlantic-Pacific community.

A parallel terrain: Public-private defense of the Ukrainian information environment

By Emma Schroeder with Sean Dack

The report analyzes Russia’s continuous assaults against the Ukrainian information environment, and examines how Russian offensives and Ukrainian defense both move through this largely privately owned and operated environment. The report highlights key questions that must emerge around the growing role that private companies play in conflict.

United States–China semiconductor standoff: A supply chain under stress

By Jeremy Mark, Dexter Tiff Roberts

What are the implications of US semiconductor policy for global semiconductor supply chains and the competition for primacy in an industry critical to the economy and global security?

Russia’s influence in Africa, a security perspective

By Sarah Daly & Abdelhak Bassou

In partnership with the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), the Africa Center is proud to present the joint report “Russia’s influence in Africa, a security perspective”, by Sarah Daly and Abdelhak Bassou, on the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine. 

Undermining Ukraine

By Roman Osadchuk, Andy Carvin

From the very start of the war, the Kremlin emphasized demoralizing Ukrainian audiences and destroying their will to fight. Building on daily monitoring of the Kremlin media ecosystem, this report analyzes Russia’s attempts to undermine Ukraine by targeting local, regional, and global audiences since February 2022.

Narrative warfare

By Nika Aleksejeva, Andy Carvin, Eto Buziashvili

In the weeks and months leading up to Russia invading Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Kremlin and pro-Kremlin media employed false and misleading narratives to justify military action against Ukraine, mask the Kremlin’s operational planning, and deny any responsibility for the coming war. Dive into a full accounting of the road to war.

The transformative power of reduced wait times at the US-Mexico border: Economic benefits for border states

By Alejandro Brugués Rodríguez, Noé Arón Fuentes Flores, David Gaytan, John Gibson, Mayra Maldonado, Jason Marczak, Jorge Eduardo Mendoza Cota, José Ángel Moreno, Roberto Ransom, and Ignacia Ulloa-Peters

Atlantic Council’s new data shows that a mere 10-minute reduction in wait times – without any additional action – can create thousands of Mexican jobs, grow the gross domestic product (GDP) of several Mexican states, and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in new spending in the United States.

Full throttle in neutral: China’s new security architecture for the Middle East 

By Tuvia Gering

This report addresses two widely held beliefs about the nature of China’s engagement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that ought to be revisited in light of notable developments. First, while it is widely assumed that Beijing’s interests in the region are limited to energy security and economic ties, this report will show how cooperation has […]

China Pathfinder: H2 2022 update

By GeoEconomics Center and Rhodium Group

In the second half of 2022, China veered from one extreme to the other, with carefully choreographed control followed by sudden turmoil. Nevertheless, China’s economic weakness is pushing leadership to strike a more business-friendly tone.

Avoiding the success trap: Toward policy for open-source software as infrastructure

By Stewart Scott, Sara Ann Brackett, Trey Herr, Maia Hamin with the Open Source Policy Network

Open-source software (OSS) sits at the center of almost every digital technology moving the world since the early 1980s—laptops, cellphones, widespread internet connectivity, cloud computing, social media, automation, all the rainbow flavors of e-commerce, and even secure communications and anti-censorship tools.

Implementing NATO’s Strategic Concept on China

By Hans Binnendijk and Daniel S. Hamilton

Allies made it clear that they consider Russia their most immediate and direct threat. Yet they also made headlines by addressing challenges emanating from the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Netanyahu’s coalition isn’t built to last: Expect high sparks within and fragile prospects for Israel’s incoming government

By Shalom Lipner

Competing agendas between the members of Israel’s incoming government portend another unsustainable partnership.