Forward Defense quick reads

Experts react: The US and South Korea strike a deal on nuclear weapons. What’s next for the alliance?

By Atlantic Council experts

US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are navigating political tensions around nuclear weapons and microchips to find a common future.

What Russia’s war in Ukraine shows the US about hybrid conflict with China

By Gray Zone Task Force experts

As China weighs whether to adjust its tactics to avoid Russia’s failures, the US can look to Ukraine’s and the West’s successes for lessons on how to counter Chinese aggression.

Maybe Putin should be worried: Most leaders facing international justice don’t get away free

By Thomas S. Warrick

Nearly all of the heads of state and military leaders wanted by international justice in recent decades have been brought before a court or faced ‘rough justice.’

What’s next for the US-UK-Australia submarine partnership?

By Atlantic Council experts

Dive into the details of the AUKUS submarine partnership just announced in San Diego by US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

What we learned from the Russia-China-South Africa military drills

By Atlantic Council experts

Why did these three nations get together? What’s in it for South Africa? Our experts set sail with the answers.

How a fleet of private satellites can help secure the US military’s future

By Aidan Poling

The US military’s satellites are “fat juicy targets.” Working with commercial satellite owners on creating a reserve fleet will help the United States bolster itself against attacks.

The arsenal of democracy has hit a snag. Congress needs to step in.

By Thomas S. Warrick

Weapons deliveries to Ukraine are delayed because the Pentagon cannot process procurement contracts fast enough. Congress needs to get the defense industry on wartime footing.

Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo on Italy’s role in unifying Europe and ‘selective decoupling’ from China

Profumo joins the Atlantic Council to share his perspective on the implications of Russia’s war in Ukraine for Europe, Italy, and the continent’s defense sector, how Leonardo has responded to the ongoing invasion, and its most recent expansion within the space sector.

What US adversaries are learning from the balloon and UFO saga

By Jennifer A. Counter

The reactions to these objects among politicians and the public say more about “us” than “them.”

What will it take to deter Iran from targeting opponents inside the US?

By Atlantic Council experts

The US Department of Justice unsealed charges Friday in an alleged assassination plot directed by Iran against a US journalist. Our experts unpack the ongoing threat.

Experts react: The West finally sends in the tanks. What will they mean for Ukraine’s fight?

By Atlantic Council experts

Is this a turning point for Germany’s participation in arming Ukraine? Our experts lay out what’s next.

How the US and its allies should respond to evolving space threats

By Forward Defense experts

Adversaries are changing the ways they disrupt or destroy US and allied space operations. Our experts give their sense of the latest challenges to security.

Experts react: Can new French and German weapons turn the tide in Ukraine?

By Atlantic Council experts

What do these additions mean for the battlefield? What do they signal about the positioning of France, Germany, and Europe as a whole in this protracted conflict?

Scoping the gray zone: Defining terms and policy priorities for engaging competitors below the threshold of conflict

By Atlantic Council’s Gray Zone Task Force

This Strategic Insights Memo, produced by Forward Defense’s Gray Zone Task Force, considers the scope of modern gray zone activity and the implications for US and allies strategy.

The National Defense Strategy shows the Pentagon’s increased focus on the gray zone. Here’s what that means.

By Gray Zone Task Force experts

The DOD is officially recognizing that competitors’ coercive and malign activities in the gray zone present a challenge to US security. What does this mean for US strategy in the years ahead?

Russia Crisis Military Assessment: Can Ukraine press its offensive this winter?

By Atlantic Council military fellows

Ukraine must carefully balance the allure of capitalizing on momentum against a weakened opponent with the challenge of sustaining hard-won gains through the winter.

Our military insiders’ views of the new National Defense Strategy

By Atlantic Council military fellows

The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s military fellows weighed in on the NDS, addressing potential gaps between budgets and strategy, and more.

Can the US keep pace with increasing global threats? Our experts decode the National Defense Strategy.

By Atlantic Council experts

We asked our experts at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security to translate all the security speak from the National Defense Strategy to reveal what it all means for the United States’ role in the world.

What’s the future of US nuclear strategy? Top officials dissect the Biden administration’s plans.

Current and former Department of Defense, State, and Energy officials outline the top takeaways from the new NPR at the Atlantic Council.