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

Nov 5, 2024

Nuclear weapons on the battlefield are a growing risk. US and allied militaries should prepare now.

By Brad T. Gericke and Donna Wilt

US military and defense thinkers must overcome two major misconceptions that for too long have shaped US actions regarding nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Deterrence Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 28, 2024

How the US can counter Russian and Chinese nuclear threats in space

By Peter L. Hays and Sarah Mineiro

As China and Russia bolster their counterspace capabilities, the United States must modernize its space-based nuclear command.

China Nuclear Deterrence

New Atlanticist

Jul 30, 2024

To deter Russia, NATO must adapt its nuclear sharing program

By Michael John Williams

Russian President Vladimir Putin has time and again played the United States and its European allies, believing that they are too scared of the long shadow cast by nuclear weapons to push back against his threats.

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

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 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

Reports & issue briefs

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

Issue Brief

Oct 7, 2024

Strategic stability in the third nuclear age

By Matthew Kroenig

The world is entering a third nuclear age. This brief explores global strategic stability in the 2020s and 2030s.

NATO Nuclear Deterrence

Issue Brief

Oct 4, 2024

How the US and Europe can counter Russian information manipulation about nonproliferation

By Natasha Lander Finch, Ryan Arick

This strategic framework presents the findings and recommendations of the Atlantic Council project to develop and strengthen comprehensive responses to counter Russian foreign malign influence that undermine nonproliferation norms and regimes in Eastern Europe.

Disinformation Europe & Eurasia

Issue Brief

Sep 10, 2024

Russian and Chinese strategic missile defense: Doctrine, capabilities, and development

By Jacob Mezey

In a follow up to Matthew R. Costlow and Robert M. Soofer’s paper, US Homeland Missile Defense: Room for Expanded Roles, former Forward Defense Program Assistant, Jacob Mezey, seeks to inform debates about missile defense policy by placing arguments that US ballistic missile defenses are uniquely destabilizing in the context of efforts by Russia and China to deploy similar systems.

China Defense Policy
Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)

Issue Brief

Jul 15, 2024

Modernizing space-based nuclear command, control, and communications

By Peter L. Hays and Sarah Mineiro

While nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) is in the midst of a modernization overhaul, the space-based elements of NC3 face unique geopolitical, technical, and bureaucratic challenges. This paper focuses on space-based missions and elements of the existing NC3 system, analyzing how ongoing modernization programs are addressing these challenges as well as offering recommendations.

China Defense Policy

Past events

In the news

In the News

Jan 8, 2025

Soofer’s new report ‘First, we will defend the homeland’ featured in an exclusive Newsweek article

By Atlantic Council

On January 4, Forward Defense senior fellow Rob Soofer‘s report, “‘First, we will defend the homeland’: The case for homeland missile defense” was featured in a Newsweek exclusive titled “Donald Trump’s Iron Dome? Proposal to Counter Nuclear Attack Takes Shape.” The article explores Rob’s argument regarding the missile threats posed by Russia, China, and North […]

China Missile Defense

In the News

Nov 22, 2024

Mezey quoted in The New York Times on Ukrainian long-range missile strikes into Russia

By Atlantic Council

On Tuesday, November 19, an excerpt from former Forward Defense Program Assistant Jacob Mezey’s Issue Brief “Russian and Chinese strategic missile defense: Doctrine, capabilities, and development” was quoted by an article in The New York Times covering Ukrainian long-range missile strikes into Russia using US-made ATACMS systems.

Conflict Missile Defense

In the News

Nov 18, 2024

Soofer quoted in Breaking Defense on the production timeline for the sub-launched cruise missile

By Atlantic Council

On November 15, Forward Defense Senior Fellow Rob Soofer was quoted in an article for Breaking Defense on the challenges to producing the nuclear submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N).

Defense Industry Defense Policy

In the News

Nov 6, 2024

Michta for RealClearDefense on how the Pentagon must re-strategize weapon procurement

On November 4, Director and Senior Fellow of the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative Dr. Andrew Michta published an article or RealClearDefense on the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine and how Pentagon planners and defense contractors should re-strategize its approach to weapons and munitions procurement. He pointed out that the most sophisticated long-range precision fire […]

Defense Industry Defense Policy

In the News

Oct 22, 2024

Braw in Foreign Policy on Russia’s infamous arms dealer Viktor Bout’s connection with the Houthis

By Elisabeth Braw

On October 22, Transatlantic Security Initiative senior fellow Elisabeth Braw wrote an op-ed in Foreign Policy discussing Russia’s infamous arm dealer Viktor Bout’s connections with the Houthis in Yemen.

Arms Control Europe & Eurasia

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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.