The Scowcroft Center’s namesake, General Brent Scowcroft, was the chairman of the 1983 Scowcroft Commission that established the foundation for US nuclear deterrence and arms control policy through the present day. As the United States enters a new era of strategic challenges, the Scowcroft Center’s Forward Defense program is proud to play a central role in crafting an effective and nonpartisan strategic forces strategy and policy for the twenty-first century.

The 2022 National Defense Strategy and Nuclear Posture Review caution that the United States will, for the first time in its history, face the challenge of simultaneously deterring two nuclear great powers, each with aggressive revisionist goals. Our Nuclear Strategy Project, within the Forward Defense program, focuses on the role of nuclear deterrence, nuclear strategy and employment, missile defense, and arms control in deterring conventional aggression and nuclear escalation against the United States, its allies, and partners.

Principal research areas

Must Reads

Report

Jan 4, 2025

‘First, we will defend the homeland’: The case for homeland missile defense

By Robert Soofer with contributions from Kari Anderson, James McCue, Tom Karako, Mark J. Massa, Alyxandra Marine, and Jonathan Rosenstein

A comprehensive analysis of U.S. homeland missile defense, addressing policies, security challenges, and strategies to counter threats from North Korea, China, and Russia.

China Defense Technologies

Commentary & quick analysis

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2025

NATO has a gap in its airborne command and control. Here’s how to close it.

By David Julazadeh

As E-3 AWACS aircraft retire, and with new doubts about and delays with the E-7A aircraft set to replace them, the Alliance must take additional steps bridge the gap.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

New Atlanticist

Aug 26, 2025

Five questions (and expert answers) about where the US-South Korea alliance goes from here

By Atlantic Council experts

The US and South Korean presidents met on Monday in Washington to discuss a range of bilateral issues, from security to shipbuilding.

Korea Nuclear Deterrence

Fast Thinking

Jun 22, 2025

How will Iran respond to US strikes on its nuclear program?

By Atlantic Council

Following the US strike on Iranian nuclear sites, Iran’s foreign minister said his country must respond. Atlantic Council experts look at Tehran’s options.

Conflict Iran

New Atlanticist

Jun 12, 2025

Experts react: Israel just attacked Iran’s military and nuclear sites. What’s next?

By Atlantic Council experts

Our experts shed light on Israel’s major attack against Iran targeting its nuclear facilities and its implications for the region.

Conflict Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Jun 6, 2025

Ukraine’s drone strikes offer four big lessons for US nuclear strategists

By Mark J. Massa

Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb should spur the US government to address strategic vulnerabilities that nuclear strategists have focused on for years.

Defense Policy National Security

Reports & issue briefs

Issue Brief

Mar 6, 2020

Russia’s exotic nuclear weapons and implications for the United States and NATO

By Matthew Kroenig, Mark J. Massa, Christian Trotti

Great-power competition has returned, and with it, the importance of nuclear weapons in international politics.

Defense Technologies Nuclear Deterrence

Report

Jun 28, 2019

Priority-based approach to the North Korean nuclear issue—An enlightened dose of self-centeredness

By Taisuke Mibae

From the time Chairman Kim Jong-Un started his “charm offensive” early last year until the fallout of the second summit meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February 2019, officials and experts have debated whether North Korea is ready for denuclearization on the terms of the United States and its allies. Rather […]

Economic Sanctions Korea

Report

Jun 25, 2019

Diplomacy surrounding the Korean peninsula

By Taisuke Mibae and James L. Schoff

For more than half a century, the US-Japan and US-ROK alliances have played critical roles for maintenance and enhancement of peace and security in Northeast Asia, the entire Asia-Pacific region, and even the world. The future course of US-North Korea and inter-Korea negotiations over denuclearization and building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula is […]

Korea Missile Defense

Report

Dec 20, 2018

Prospects for US-South Korean-Japanese trilateral security cooperation

By Chung Min Lee

Although assessing the intensity and depth of trilateral security cooperation or a lack thereof is hardly a new issue, the stakes are arguably the highest since the outbreak of the North Korean nuclear crisis in the early 1990s.

Defense Policy Japan

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

Past events

In the news

In the News

Oct 14, 2025

Kroenig quoted in the Wall Street Journal on New-START Treaty

On October 5, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director Matthew Kroenig was quoted in an article in the Wall Street Journal. He argues against extending the New START arms control agreement in order to expand the US nuclear arsenal to compete with China.

Arms Control China

In the News

Aug 20, 2025

Kroenig in Foreign Policy urges Trump to play the nuclear card to end the war in Ukraine

By Atlantic Council

On August 18, Matthew Kroenig, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director, published an article in Foreign Policy titled “To Get Peace in Ukraine, Trump Should Play the Nuclear Card.” He argues that President Trump should ramp up nuclear threats as a negotiating strategy to end Russia’s war in Ukraine instead of increasing […]

Defense Policy Eastern Europe

In the News

Jul 8, 2025

Kroenig mentioned in the Washington Post on nuclear nonproliferation

On July 7, Matthew Kroenig, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director, was mentioned in the Washington Post for a recent op-ed he published titled “The Trump doctrine on nuclear nonproliferation is born.” A nuclear disarmament advocate from Back from the Brink wrote a letter to the editor reacting to the op-ed.

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation

In the News

Jun 30, 2025

Kroenig mentioned in the Hill on nuclear nonproliferation

On June 30, Matthew Kroenig, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director, was mentioned in the Hill for a recent op-ed he published in the Washington Post on his view of the Trump administration’s nuclear nonproliferation strategy. An expert from a nonpartisan climate policy think tank reacted to the op-ed and Kroenig’s arguments.

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation

In the News

Jun 30, 2025

Kroenig mentioned in the South China Morning Post on nuclear nonproliferation

On June 30, Matthew Kroenig, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director, was mentioned in the South China Morning Post for his June 24th op-ed in the Washington Post on the Trump administration’s nuclear nonproliferation strategy, as evidenced by its attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons program. A master’s student from the University of […]

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation

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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.