Our inspiration
The Scowcroft Center honors General Brent Scowcroft’s legacy of service and embodies his ethos of nonpartisan commitment to the cause of security, support for US leadership in cooperation with allies and partners, and dedication to the mentorship of the next generation of leaders. The Scowcroft Center currently houses four major practice areas: the Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative; the Transatlantic Security Initiative; the Asia Security Initiative; and the Cyber Statecraft Initiative. It also collaborates on the Regional Security Program housed within the Council’s Middle East Programs. The Scowcroft Center also houses the growing Emergent Futures Lab.
Featured work
Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series
The Atlantic Council Strategy Papers series (ACSP) is the Atlantic Council’s flagship outlet for publishing high-level, strategic thinking. The series seeks to develop and promote sustainable, non-partisan strategies on the most important challenges facing the United States and its allies. The papers are authored by leading authorities and including a range of established and emerging strategic thinkers, from within and outside the Atlantic Council. The series is overseen by the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and works in conjunction with other Atlantic Council Centers to create regional strategy task forces focusing on East Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Iran.
Declaration of Principles for Freedom, Prosperity, and Peace
In March 2018, the Atlantic Council, in coordination with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, launched an initiative to revitalize, adapt, and defend a rules-based order. A high-level task force of distinguished former officials representing leading democracies around the world convened to begin charting a course of action. The starting point for this effort is a Declaration of Principles that articulates the fundamental values of a rules-based order—democracy, free and open markets, alliances, and the rule of law.
NATO at 70
The 70th anniversary of the Washington Treaty is more than a historical moment to commemorate NATO’s past, but also an opportunity to address the challenges facing NATO today and to highlight its mission going forward. At this critical juncture for the transatlantic community, the Atlantic Council is building a substantive campaign powered by digital-forward content to inform community leaders, decisionmakers, and the broader population of NATO’s enduring value. This effort will seek to celebrate the Alliance’s achievements, share NATO’s story, and demonstrate its renewed importance.
Featured commentary and analysis
Fri, Aug 2, 2019
How to break the Japan-Korea impasse
The Atlantic Council’s Asia Security Initiative hosted a strategy session with a small group of top US experts and officials to discuss ways forward and offer actionable, practical policy recommendations to the United States to help mitigate bilateral tensions and resolve the ongoing confrontation between Japan and Korea.
Strategic Insights Memo by
Mon, Aug 26, 2019
NATO members are picking up the burden
While movement towards 2 percent may seem slow, it is clear that NATO allies are making significant changes to their defense spending.
Infographic by
Sat, Mar 2, 2019
Kroenig on Fareed Zakaria GPS
On Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, the Atlantic Council’s Matthew Kroenig says President Trump’s strategy with North Korea is in line with past presidents’, but with his “distinctive flair.” Kroenig says: “We have this kind of bipartisan consensus of pressure and engagement—it was the Bush and Obama approach to Iran and it’s the Trump approach to North Korea.”
In the News by
Featured in-depth research and reports
Thu, Feb 7, 2019
Permanent deterrence
To provide an independent perspective, the Atlantic Council established a task force to assess the broader political and military implications of an enhanced US posture in North Central Europe. The report’s recommendations, guided by several key principles, are a result of the task force members’ agreement that enhancements to the US presence in the region could, and should, be undertaken to bolster deterrence and reinforce Alliance cohesion.
Report by
Fri, Apr 27, 2018
Building a smart partnership for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Along with greater prospects for human advancement and progress, advancements in emerging technologies have the potential to be dramatically disruptive, threatening existing assumptions around national security, rules for international cooperation, and a thriving global commerce.
Report by
Tue, Jul 16, 2019
Collective defense of human dignity: the vision for NATO’s future in cyberspace
An alliance under tension, NATO today faces the challenges of burden sharing, a multipolar world full of old adversaries and emerging challengers. In “Collective Defense of Human Dignity: The Vision for NATO’s Future in Cyberspace,” Christopher Porter, a nonresident senior fellow in the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council analyzes member states struggling with […]
Issue Brief by
Scowcroft Center initiatives
Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative
The Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative (FSR) advances the Atlantic Council’s mission to support renewed, constructive, and resourceful US leadership. Its competencies in long-range assessments, strategy development, and global trends will prove especially useful during a time when world dynamics are increasingly complex and unpredictable.
Cyber Statecraft Initiative
The Cyber Statecraft Initiative (CSI) works to make cyberspace more stable and secure and is focused relentlessly on providing practical, innovative, and relevant solutions to the challenges in cyberspace. The Initiative brings together a diverse network of respected experts, bridging the gap between the technical and policy communities at events like its regular Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge series, and the annual International Conference on Cyber Engagement.
Asia Security Initiative
The Asia Security Initiative (ASI) develops purposeful programming designed to create an Atlantic-Pacific Community that can adapt, revitalize, and defend the rules-based international order in Asia. The effort is grounded in a dual approach of providing fresh perspectives on traditional issues (regional security and political-economic architecture) while assessing a new agenda of non-traditional topics (cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things) to develop new strategies and policies.
Transatlantic Security Initiative
The Transatlantic Security Initiative (TSI) brings together senior officials and experts from Europe and North America to share insights, strengthen cooperation, and develop innovative approaches to the key challenges facing NATO and the transatlantic community. Through high-profile public convenings, off-the-record strategy sessions, war-gaming, digital engagement, and content-rich publications, the initiative directly advances the Council’s core mission of informing the transatlantic security debate.
Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative
The Atlantic Council’s work on Middle East security honors the legacy of Brent Scowcroft and his tireless efforts to build a new security architecture for the region. Our work in this area addresses the full range of security threats and challenges including the danger of interstate warfare, the role of terrorist groups and other nonstate actors, and the underlying security threats facing countries in the region.
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