Our mission
Forward Defense (FD) helps the United States and its allies and partners contend with great-power competitors and maintain favorable balances of power. This new practice area in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security produces Forward-looking analyses of the trends, technologies, and concepts that will define the future of warfare, and the alliances needed for the 21st century. Through the futures we forecast, the scenarios we wargame, and the analyses we produce, Forward Defense develops actionable strategies and policies for deterrence and defense, while shaping US and allied operational concepts and the role of defense industry in addressing the most significant military challenges at the heart of great-power competition.
The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and the world.
FD issues in focus
Defense foresight
Identifying the most important long-term developments, trends, and technologies that are shaping the future geostrategic and military environment.
Defense strategy & policy
Crafting sustainable, nonpartisan strategies with our allies and partners to counter, deter, and overcome the diverse military challenges posed by great-power competitors and other potential adversaries.
Operational concepts, capabilities & posture
Designing novel operational concepts which leverage both emerging defense technologies and traditional capabilities to deter and, if necessary, conduct future wars.
Defense industry & acquisitions
Realigning US and allied defense-industrial bases to ensure collaboration in pursuit of national defense strategies.
The art of war
Applying innovative methodologies such as wargaming, narrative fiction, and the creative arts to tomorrow’s military and defense challenges.
FD in-depth analysis
Read our extensive research and reports on cutting-edge issues in defense, including our leading analysis on key trends in military technology and innovation, our robust body of work on nuclear deterrence and the emerging strategic forces balance, and our foundational recommendations on the future of homeland security.
Sun, Apr 11, 2021
The future of security in space: A thirty-year US strategy
Outer space is rapidly transforming as new actors test new limits. This Atlantic Council Strategy Paper calls for the United States and its allies and partners to secure space over the next three decades or risk wasting the promise of this emerging domain.
Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series by
Tue, Jun 8, 2021
Transformative priorities for national defense
Today, the United States faces multi-theater and multi-domain challenges different from any presented since World War II—and, in fact, ever. This report addresses these pivotal challenges by advancing key transformative priorities for an effective US national defense strategy, both in the “American theater” at home and in the forward theaters abroad.
Report by
Wed, Jun 16, 2021
Are dual-capable weapon systems destabilizing? Questioning nuclear-conventional entanglement and inadvertent escalation
Some fear that nuclear-conventional entanglement–the use of the same weapons or sensors for nuclear and conventional weapons–could lead to nuclear war. Are they right? This issue brief argues that fears of entanglement leading to nuclear war are misplaced and rest on poor logical and empirical foundations.
Issue Brief by Matthew Kroenig, Mark J. Massa
FD quick reads
Read our commentary, op-eds, and analysis on defense policy, military strategy, defense industry, and emerging trends.
Fri, Feb 19, 2021
How the next National Defense Strategy can get serious about emerging technologies
US adversaries including China, Iran, and Russia are investing in additional technological capabilities to counterbalance the United States’ advantages in great-power competition—specifically its dominance in kinetic operations and weapons. The next NDS must differentiate among different technologies to create more nuanced strategies.
Seizing the advantage by Justin Sherman, Evanna Hu
Wed, Feb 3, 2021
How the US can regain the advantage in its next National Defense Strategy
To seize the advantage, the next US National Defense Strategy needs a paradigm adjustment, not a shift. In the next NDS, the Biden defense team must take a broader definition of competition if the United States is to succeed in deterring, defending, and shaping the strategic environment in its favor.
Seizing the advantage by Clementine G. Starling, Matthew R. Crouch
Mon, Mar 29, 2021
Gen Cartwright, Sec. James in Breaking Defense on the need for a long-term strategy on space
Atlantic Council Board Directors former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James E. Cartwright, USMC (Ret.) and former Secretary of the US Air Force the Hon. Deborah Lee James released an article in Breaking Defense titled “The Space Rush: New US strategy must bring order, regulation.”
In the News by
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Content series
Seizing the advantage: The next US National Defense Strategy
The Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense practice advances leading-edge commentary and key recommendations to help chart the course for the United States’ next National Defense Strategy.
Scowcroft Center Military Fellows
The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Forward Defense practice is proud to host Military Fellows from participating branches of the US military and the armed forces of US allies and partners each year as part of a twelve-month fellowship program.
Future of DHS Project
A platform for developing recommendations to improve the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and protect the homeland from the coronavirus, threats to democracy, and other future challenges.
Event series
Forward Defense houses the Scowcroft Center’s longstanding public event series on key issues related to the future of US and allied defense, including the Commanders Series, the Defense-Industrial Policy Series, and the Captains of Industry Series.
Commanders Series
The Atlantic Council’s flagship speakers’ forum for senior military and defense leaders. The series provides a platform to discuss current strategic issues with an impressive audience drawn from across Washington’s policy community, including think tanks, media, industry, embassies, and the US government.
Defense-Industrial Policy Series
A platform for senior government executives in defense and aerospace to address the public policies that shape the market for defense goods and services. By engaging the perspective of government leaders about issues at the interface of defense ministries and industries, the series aims to cultivate a constituency for practical solutions to these challenges.
Captains of Industry Series
A platform for senior defense executives to address the public interests their companies serve and the public policies that shape their markets.
Our upcoming & latest events
Forward Defense is a forum for high-level speakers and experts to discuss new approaches to the most important challenges of our time. Stay tuned for FD’s upcoming events on key issues related to defense strategy, emerging military technologies and operational concepts, the defense-industrial base, and the intersection between international security and the creative arts. Also, be sure to watch our past events for relevant insights on these key topics.
Core team
