Defense strategy & policy

About our work

The Department of Defense needs a clear roadmap to counter today’s myriad security challenges—from strategic competitors and regional aggressors to violent extremist organizations and climate change. Strategic thinking is essential in order to align priorities and ensure US and allied national security.

Forward Defense explores this issue set through frank review of current defense policy, cogent expert analysis of the present security environment, and actionable recommendations for strategy to meet future defense challenges.

Featured projects

Report

Jul 3, 2025

The National Defense Strategy Project

By Atlantic Council experts

As the world enters a pivotal new phase in global security, the United States must not only respond to current challenges but also anticipate those on the horizon.

Artificial Intelligence Defense Policy

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.

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.

Featured reports

Issue Brief Feb 24, 2022

The next National Defense Strategy must get Russia right

By Clementine G. Starling-Daniels, Christian Trotti, Tyson Wetzel

The rapidly developing 2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis raises a key question for US defense policy makers as they finalize the next National Defense Strategy (NDS): How can the NDS get Russia “right”? This issue brief seeks to answer this question by developing a US defense strategy for deterring and managing the Russian threat in Europe and beyond, building upon the authors’ 2021 report, “Seizing the Advantage: A Vision for the Next US National Defense Strategy.”

Conflict Crisis Management

Report Dec 22, 2021

Seizing the advantage: A vision for the next US national defense strategy

By Clementine G. Starling-Daniels, Tyson Wetzel, Christian Trotti

In this latest installment of the Atlantic Council Strategy Papers series, Forward Defense’s Clementine Starling, Lt Col Tyson Wetzel, and Christian Trotti articulate their vision and recommendations for the next US National Defense Strategy, including clearer prioritization, investments and divestments, reposturing of US forces, a new warfighting concept, and a focus on transnational threats like hybrid warfare and climate change.

China Defense Industry

Report Nov 25, 2023

Ten challenges to implementing Force Design 2030

By Bruce Stubbs

Bruce Stubbs points out key questions for the success of the US Marine Corps’s Force Design 2030.

China Defense Policy

Strategic Insights Memo Aug 5, 2021

A new strategy for US global defense posture

By Matthew Crouch, Barry Pavel, Clementine G. Starling, and Christian Trotti

This Policy Brief, produced by the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Forward Defense team, recommends a novel strategy for US global force posture to strengthen deterrence and competitive leverage vis-à-vis China, Russia, and other challengers. It addresses multifaceted challenges abroad, allocates missions according to mobility and range, lays the foundation for emerging technologies, and facilitates robust cooperation with allies and partners.

Defense Policy Defense Technologies

Report Jun 8, 2021

Transformative priorities for national defense

By Franklin D. Kramer and Lt. Col. Matthew R. Crouch

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.

China Defense Industry

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series Apr 11, 2021

The future of security in space: A thirty-year US strategy

By Clementine G. Starling, Mark J. Massa, Lt Col Christopher P. Mulder, and Julia T. Siegel

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.

China Cybersecurity

Content

New Atlanticist

Jun 24, 2019

What to expect from Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper

By Christian Trotti

Esper’s tenure as secretary of the army demonstrates a prioritization of great-power competition over other threats, and we should expect this trend to continue in his new role.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Report

Apr 23, 2019

Leveraging the National Technology Industrial Base to address great-power competition

By William Greenwalt

The purpose of this report by William Greenwalt is to promote urgent deliberations over what a modern National Technology and Industrial Base should look like, and to encourage Congress and the administration to adopt measures that will enable access to defense-industrial resources that are more responsive to the needs of the National Defense Strategy.

Defense Industry
Defense Technologies

Report

Sep 19, 2018

Whose truth? Sovereignty, disinformation, and winning the battle of trust

By John Watts

In an era of increasing technological, cultural and geo-political change, the rise of disinformation undermines the institutions that nations rely on to function and creates risks across society. At the heart of the challenge is the battle of truth and trust. In this report, “Whose Truth: Sovereignty, Disinformation and Winning the Battle of Trust, John […]

Disinformation
Media

Report

Apr 24, 2018

A strategy for deterring Russian de-escalation strikes

By Matthew Kroenig

The United States and its NATO allies have not developed a clear strategy for deterring limited Russian nuclear strikes. Specifically, in the event of a limited Russian nuclear attack, how would the United States and its NATO allies respond?

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2018

Reviewing the Nuclear Posture Review: Here’s what you need to know

By Atlantic Council

US President Donald J. Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) calls for enhanced deterrence and a larger nuclear arsenal. The administration released the new review on February 2. Outlined in the strategy is Trump’s decision to pursue a path toward augmenting nuclear capabilities against the backdrop of increasing tensions with North Korea—as it moves ever closer […]

National Security
Nuclear Deterrence

Events

Register for upcoming events

Watch past events

Public Event Thu, December 4, 2025 • 2:00 pm ET

General Aurelio Colagrande on preparing NATO for the challenges of tomorrow

Defense Policy National Security NATO United States and Canada

Public Event Wed, October 16, 2024 • 8:00 am ET

A conversation with Admiral Lisa Franchetti on the Navy’s 2024 Navigation Plan

Defense Policy Maritime Security

Public Event Wed, May 22, 2024 • 6:50 am ET

General CQ Brown, Jr. on how US forces are readying for new global threats

An #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT—General CQ Brown, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discusses the challenges the joint force faces today and what to expect in the years ahead.

Conflict Crisis Management Defense Policy National Security

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Crisis Management Defense Policy

Former staff

Delharty Manson

Former Program Assistant

On November 10, Forward Defense nonresident senior fellow Thomas X. Hammes was featured in a compendium article in the National Defense magazine titled “The Navy and Marine Corps at 250: A Look to the Future as the Sea Services Celebrate Their Quarter Millennial Anniversary.” Hammes’s contribution, “Modernization Going in Right Direction,” argues that the Marine […]

Defense Policy
United States and Canada

In the News

Nov 12, 2025

Hammes publishes issue brief on containerized weapons with Stimson Center

On November 6, Forward Defense nonresident senior fellow Thomas X. Hammes published an issue brief with the Stimson Center titled “We Can’t Buy Our Way Out: It’s Time to Think Differently.” Hammes urges the Pentagon to focus on a new generation of containerized weapons that can be mass produced in order to field capabilities to […]

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Forward Defense leads the Atlantic Council’s US and global defense programming, developing actionable recommendations for the United States and its allies and partners to compete, innovate, and navigate the rapidly evolving character of warfare. Through its work on US defense policy and force design, the military applications of advanced technology, space security, strategic deterrence, and defense industrial revitalization, it informs the strategies, policies, and capabilities that the United States will need to deter, and, if necessary, prevail in major-power conflict.

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About our work

Featured projects

The National Defense Strategy Project

Scowcroft Center Military Fellows

Commanders Series

Latest analysis

Featured reports

The next National Defense Strategy must get Russia right

Seizing the advantage: A vision for the next US national defense strategy

Ten challenges to implementing Force Design 2030

A new strategy for US global defense posture

Transformative priorities for national defense

The future of security in space: A thirty-year US strategy

Content

What to expect from Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper

Leveraging the National Technology Industrial Base to address great-power competition

Whose truth? Sovereignty, disinformation, and winning the battle of trust

A strategy for deterring Russian de-escalation strikes

Reviewing the Nuclear Posture Review: Here’s what you need to know

Events

Register for upcoming events

Watch past events

General Aurelio Colagrande on preparing NATO for the challenges of tomorrow

A conversation with Admiral Lisa Franchetti on the Navy’s 2024 Navigation Plan

General CQ Brown, Jr. on how US forces are readying for new global threats

Meet our experts

In the news

Grundman in Aviation Week on Pentagon acquisition reform

Hicks and Thornberry published in Defense News

Punaro quoted in Air & Space Forces magazine on acquisition reform

Hammes discusses Force Design in National Defense magazine

Hammes publishes issue brief on containerized weapons with Stimson Center

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