All timely commentary & analysis

Experts react

Sep 18, 2024

Experts react: What’s behind the Hezbollah beeper and walkie-talkie explosions

By Atlantic Council experts

Our experts explain what the explosions of communication devices in Lebanon could mean for the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Conflict Defense Technologies

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2024

This is not the time for the United States to go soft on Hezbollah

By Jonathan Rosenstein and Eliana Aiken

If Israel decides on a major campaign in Lebanon to remove the threat from Hezbollah, the US should have its ally’s back.

Crisis Management Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Sep 11, 2024

Senator Chris Murphy on why US foreign policy is ‘mismatched’ to its challenges and what Democrats can do about it

By Katherine Walla

Murphy argued that the United States is spending heavily on military aid and investment but not enough on solutions to the “most serious threats” for the United States.

Conflict Elections

New Atlanticist

Aug 27, 2024

How the Israeli intelligence community got its mojo back

By Marc Polymeropoulos

Israel’s recent preemptive strikes against Hezbollah targets helped avert a wider war and showed how Israeli intelligence has bounced back from the failures of October 7.

Conflict Intelligence

New Atlanticist

Jul 3, 2024

Don’t cut corners on US nuclear deterrence

By Matthew Kroenig, Mark J. Massa

Bipartisan support for modernizing and expanding the US nuclear arsenal will be essential for the United States to deter its adversaries.

Conflict Defense Industry

New Atlanticist

May 23, 2024

General CQ Brown, Jr., on the US role in Gaza, Ukraine, and other crises around the world

By Katherine Walla

It’s time to plan for the long term in the Middle East, the general said at an Atlantic Council event.

Conflict Crisis Management

New Atlanticist

May 21, 2024

Congress should save the Sentinel ICBM—its true value is more than simply its cost

By James McCue

The value of the new intercontinental ballistic missile program should be measured over its full lifetime and not just by its current price tag.

Defense Technologies National Security

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2024

NATO must ‘win up front but be ready to win long’ in modern warfare, says General Christopher Cavoli

By Katherine Walla

At an Atlantic Council Front Page event, Cavoli spoke about the war in Ukraine, NATO’s modernization efforts, the China challenge, and more.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

May 7, 2024

The drones are small—the arms race may not be. Here’s how the US can win.

By Matthew Rose, Kathryn Levantovscaia

With rapid advances in drone technology, the United States needs to develop an updated, comprehensive counter-drone strategy.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Apr 19, 2024

Great power competition is back. What does that mean for US special operations forces?

By Alyxandra Marine

With their wide array of capabilities, US special operations forces can play a central role in strategic competition.

China Conflict

New Atlanticist

Apr 17, 2024

Pax Americana vs. autonomy: How the US and EU defense industrial strategies diverge

By Kathryn Levantovscaia

This is the first year in which both the United States and the European Union have formally introduced defense industrial strategies.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Apr 11, 2024

Is the United States falling behind the North Korean ICBM threat? Congress needs answers.

By Robert Soofer

Washington must not wait until Pyongyang is regularly test-launching ICBMs with multiple re-entry vehicles and countermeasures to improve US defenses.

Defense Technologies Korea

New Atlanticist

Apr 4, 2024

Aiding Ukraine is a strategic investment, not charity

By Kathryn Levantovscaia

Some members of Congress are concerned about costs, but US support for Ukraine is an investment in US economic and national security that is already paying off.

Conflict Crisis Management

Interview

Apr 3, 2024

Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero on transatlantic defense industrial innovation and cooperation

By Atlantic Council

Pierroberto Folgiero, chief executive officer of Fincantieri, Italy’s leading shipbuilding company that works closely with the US Navy and has several shipbuilding sites in the United States, joined the Atlantic Council for an interview with Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Folgiero shared his perspective on […]

Defense Industry Defense Technologies

Issue Brief

Feb 21, 2024

This year’s bipartisan immigration bill offers a border blueprint for 2025

By Thomas S. Warrick

The consequences of another year of inaction on border security and immigration policy may convince a supermajority in the Congress to take up again in 2025 many of the ideas in this year’s bipartisan Senate compromise—no matter which party captures the White House in November.

Mexico Migration

New Atlanticist

Feb 15, 2024

Russian nuclear anti-satellite weapons would require a firm US response, not hysteria

By Clementine G. Starling-Daniels, Mark J. Massa

If fielded, such weapons would directly challenge norms of responsible behavior in space and present a serious risk to all nations’ satellites.

Arms Control Russia

Experts react

Feb 15, 2024

Experts react: What to know about Russia’s apparent plans for a space-based nuclear weapon

By Atlantic Council experts

Reports that Russia is developing a space-based nuclear anti-satellite weapon have raised national security concerns in Washington.

Defense Policy National Security

New Atlanticist

Feb 14, 2024

Reading between the lines of the new US National Defense Industrial Strategy

By Kathryn Levantovscaia

The new strategy’s strength as a rallying cry for a robust industrial base is hampered by an absence of specifics on implementation.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Hybrid Conflict Project

Jan 25, 2024

International law doesn’t adequately protect undersea cables. That must change.

By Amy Paik and Jennifer Counter

What’s missing: A global effort to protect undersea cables in international waters.

China Cybersecurity

Announcements

Jan 22, 2024

Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense practice launches Commission on Software-Defined Warfare

WASHINGTON D.C. — JAN. 22, 2024 Following the success of the Atlantic Council’s Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption, the Atlantic Council has convened more than 30 senior leaders to launch a brand-new Commission on Software-Defined Warfare.   Co-chaired by former US Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, former Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox, […]

Security & Defense
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Forward Defense, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, generates ideas and connects stakeholders in the defense ecosystem to promote an enduring military advantage for the United States, its allies, and partners. Our work identifies the defense strategies, capabilities, and resources the United States needs to deter and, if necessary, prevail in future conflict.