National Security

National Security Strategy 2015: Platitudes R Us

By Robert A. Manning

My first thought upon seeing the long-awaited National Security Strategy was to recall the comments made to me some years ago by a prominent international leader when asked why he said certain things that seemed well beyond his ability to deliver, “Les mots, n’importe pas.” (Words don’t matter). For an administration six years on, its […]

Three Elements of the NSS that Deserve More Attention

By Richard LeBaron

Other than a necessary new focus on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the new National Security Strategy is largely consistent with past reports. The document is an important statement of intent, but we can be pretty confident that no one in the US foreign policy apparatus will sleep with it next to […]

Middle East Needed More Attention in National Security Strategy

By Bilal Y. Saab

The National Security Strategy released on February 6 is solid for a second-term president who has two more years in office. The document puts a premium on and is crystal clear on leadership. That is comforting following accusations by international partners and allies  — some legitimate, others unfair — that the United States was disengaging […]

National Security Strategy Fails for Not Being Prescriptive

By Alex Ward

The fact that the 2015 National Security Strategy was released a year before the Obama administration becomes a lame duck has made it almost inevitable that it will become an after-the-fact justification for the administration’s national security policy to date. Nonetheless, the NSS is an important document. Here’s why: we now know that the Obama […]

National Intelligence Council Chairman Calls for More Long-Term Intelligence Work

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Russia’s aggressive posture in its neighborhood is an “interesting inflection point in global politics,” much like the fall of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 and al Qaeda’s attack on the US on September 11, 2001, Gregory F. Treverton, chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, told the Atlantic Council. “The first time around […]

Adapting Intelligence for New National Security Challenges

By Atlantic Council

Please join the Atlantic Council on December 1, 2014 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. for the first public on-the-record discussion by Dr. Gregory F. Treverton in his new role as the chairman of the US National Intelligence Council to speak about adapting intelligence analysis for national security efforts.

Emerging Technologies and the Future of Global Security

Emerging and disruptive technologies are going to have extensive effects on national and international security in the future. Despite the challenge in determining the scale of these impacts on international power, governments must prepare effective security strategies now that incorporate a vision of technology’s impact on the future. In an effort to address the challenges […]