Content

In the News

Dec 10, 2025

Gray in The Wall Street Journal on the National Security Strategy

On December 10, Alexander B. Gray, a nonresident senior fellow with the GeoStrategy Initiative at the Scowcroft Center, published an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal titled “The Logic of Trump’s Foreign-Policy Doctrine”. He argues that the new National Security Strategy’s greatest strength is its clear prioritization of core national interests within a larger […]

Defense Policy

Inflection Points

Dec 9, 2025

Dispatch from Doha: A tale of two Trumps (constrained vs. unleashed)

By Frederick Kempe

The Trump administration's recently released National Security Strategy is a stark departure from its predecessor during Trump's first term.

Middle East
Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Dec 9, 2025

Europe’s choice: Fund Ukraine now or pay a far higher price if Russia wins

By Elena Davlikanova, Lesia Orobets

Europe’s reluctance to pay for Ukraine’s defense is shortsighted, write Elena Davlikanova and Lesia Orobets. If Russia’s invasion succeeds, Europe will soon have to boost defense spending to levels that would completely dwarf the current cost of backing Ukraine.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

MENASource

Dec 9, 2025

Is India losing clout in the Gulf?

By Jean-Loup Samaan

Until recently, Indian officials were careful not to pressure their Gulf partners on policies that ran counter to Delhi’s interests.

India
Middle East

MENASource

Dec 9, 2025

Western policy must include Iran’s neglected peripheries

By Rob Macaire

Now is the time for Western and regional policymakers to form a clear-eyed view of how they should engage with Iran’s minorities.

Iran
Middle East

Scorecard

Dec 8, 2025

Scowcroft Strategy Scorecard: Grading Trump’s second National Security Strategy

By Atlantic Council

The Trump administration recently released its new National Security Strategy, a document that represents a major departure from past strategies. Experts from our Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security hand out their grades.

National Security
Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Dec 8, 2025

Charai for The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune: No Stabilization in Gaza Without Dismantling Hamas

By Atlantic Council

Conflict
International Security Assistance Force

UkraineAlert

Dec 8, 2025

Ukraine’s wartime experience provides blueprint for infrastructure protection

By Oleksandr Bakalinskyi, Maggie McDonough

Since 2014, Ukraine’s critical infrastructure has faced sustained and increasingly sophisticated attacks but continues to function, adapt, and evolve, offering the world one of the most comprehensive case studies for resilience under unrelenting cyber-kinetic pressure, write Oleksandr Bakalinskyi and Maggie McDonough.

Conflict
Cybersecurity

In the News

Dec 6, 2025

Kroenig on PBS News Weekend on the National Security Strategy

On December 6, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director Matthew Kroenig was interviewed on “PBS News Weekend” about the Trump administration’s national security strategy. He discusses key takeaways and areas where the NSS marks a departure from past policy.

Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Dec 5, 2025

The cost of an unjust peace in Ukraine? An emboldened China.

By Phillip M. Ramirez

A peace deal aimed at ending the war in Ukraine that favors Russia could embolden China to take military action of its own.

China
Conflict

Experts

Events