Scowcroft Center Commentary & Analysis

Preparing the Military for Coming Challenges

As the head of the the US Missile Defense Agency, Patrick O’Reilly saw a lot of advanced military technology. But of late, one of the most intriguing advancements he has seen has come from a few newly graduated engineers at a commercial wireless company. With a 3D printer, they have created new antenna shapes that […]

Betting on Breakthrough Defense Technologies: Keynote with DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar

By Mark Revor

No discussion on disruptive technologies would be complete without the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which has been the leading developer of disruptive technologies for decades. Their work has brought us the internet, global positioning system, and that voice on your iPhone. Joining the Disruptive Defense conference for an afternoon keynote on Betting on […]

The New World We Face, The New Strategy We Need

By James Hasik

What’s changing, Barry Pavel asked, in this “Westphalia-Plus” world? Stephen Hadley and Jim Miller agreed that the challenges today are not primarily technological, but political. Hadley offered the salient example of Pakistan, where “all the drone strikes in the world” will not solve the problems of a failing state, but rather, only competent government. The […]

Disrupting Geopolitics

By Mark Revor

Mathew Burrows, Andrew Hoehn, and Moisés Naím joined moderator Francis Rose of Federal News Radio for Disrupting Geopolitics, the second panel of Atlantic Council’s Disrupting Defense conference. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opened the conference, highlighting the challenges of today’s geopolitical environment from a military perspective, stating that the application […]

Dempsey Calls for Innovation in Defense

By James Hasik

Keynote Address by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey Today, General Dempsey noted, is the forty-ninth anniversary of the founding of the long-defunct Warsaw Pact. Back then, in 1955, he was three years old. In 1975, as he noted, the Dempsey went to Germany to patrol the Czech border as a […]

The Gulf Rising: Defense Industrialization in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Dramatic changes in the world of defense, coupled with increasing political, financial, and fiscal pressures in the transatlantic community, have forced some of the most advanced US industrial allies and partners to make tough choices regarding their national defense programs, leaving them either more dependent on the United States or with capability shortages. Facing even […]

The Future of the US-Taiwan Relationship

Signed in 1979, the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) serves as the cornerstone of US-Taiwan relations. It guarantees crucial support for Taiwan’s security, economic prosperity, and democratization from the United States. The Atlantic Council celebrated the thirty-fifth anniversary of the TRA on Capitol Hill with a discussion on the future of the US-Taiwan relationship. Rep. Ed […]

Schissler: The “Transatlantic Link is Under Renovation”

Faced with a coercive Russia, declining defense resources, and additional contingencies in Europe’s east, how can NATO plan, deter against, and form a strategy to deal with these and other challenges? What does the future of NATO look like as it looks to adapt to face the challenges of individual empowerment and other global trends? […]

Arms and Influence in the Gulf

By Bilal Y. Saab

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi Get to Work Since the formation of the modern Arab state system in the mid-twentieth century, no Arab country has succeeded in building and sustaining an indigenous national defense industry. Egypt tried hard, but ultimately failed because it lacked the requisite financial and human capital. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq came closest, […]

Thomas Enders Delivers Remarks on the State of European Defense

“European defense is in an appalling state,” Thomas Enders, CEO of Airbus Group said during an Atlantic Council Captains of Industry event held immediately following the Council’s two-day Toward a Europe Whole & Free conference on April 30.