In-depth research & reports

In-Depth Research & Reports

May 18, 2021

Predictable strategy and unpredictable operations: The implications of agility in Northern Europe

By Conor Rodihan, Matthew R. Crouch, and Ronald C. Fairbanks

As the US military becomes increasingly agile, its evolving strategy and activities pose implications for cooperation with allies, deterrence, and stability in Northern Europe.

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

In-Depth Research & Reports

May 12, 2021

Falling in: The deterrent value of Host Nation Support in the Baltic Sea region

By Kathleen McInnis and Connor McPartland

Host Nation Support plays a vital, yet often overlooked, role in enabling NATO’s overall deterrence strategy for the Baltic Sea region.

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

In-Depth Research & Reports

Apr 21, 2021

2025 Post-Covid Scenarios: Latin America and the Caribbean

By Pepe Zhang and Peter Engelke

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the worst economic decline in Latin America and the Caribbean in two hundred years. In addition to its economic toll, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on the region’s society and health systems. Although the region represents just 8 percent […]

Americas Coronavirus
Cover credit: Helen Lundeberg, “The Veil,” 1947, The Macfarlane Collection

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

Issue Brief

Mar 29, 2021

The downsides of downsizing: Why the United States needs four hundred ICBMs

By Matthew Kroenig, Mark J. Massa, Christian Trotti

The United States is at a nuclear modernization crossroads. Critics of the land leg of the nuclear triad believe that an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force of 300 missiles will be cheaper and more stable than a force of 400. This issue brief shows that 400 ICBMs support the goals of US nuclear deterrence and are affordable.

China Defense Policy

Issue briefs and reports

Mar 22, 2021

The China plan: A transatlantic blueprint for strategic competition

By Hans Binnendijk, Sarah Kirchberger, James Danoy, Franklin D. Kramer, Connor McPartland, Christopher Skaluba, Clementine G. Starling, Didi Kirsten Tatlow

China presents the United States and its partners with the most serious set of challenges they have faced since the Cold War. To manage this challenge, transatlantic nations need a blueprint to build a common approach.

China Europe & Eurasia
Women in Swiss security

In-Depth Research & Reports

Mar 8, 2021

NATO partnerships for Women, Peace, and Security

By Lisa Aronsson

Lisa A. Aronsson outlines the achievements and the implementation challenges NATO faces, and offers three sets of recommendations for overcoming institutional hurdles, leveraging non-NATO members, and reviving NATO’s sense of purpose on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Assumptions Testing Series

Mar 4, 2021

Assumption #2: Strategies of coercion are effective

By Erica Borghard

Policymakers should cultivate more realistic expectations about the likelihood that their coercive threats will work as intended, evaluate their full costs against their potential benefits, and invest more in deterrence and defense.

Report

Mar 1, 2021

Report release: The future of the US-ROK alliance

By Barry Pavel, Miyeon Oh, Robert Dohner, Alexander Vershbow, Markus Garlauskas, Todd Rosenblum

In a rapidly changing environment, the US and ROK must develop an integrated strategic vision for security in the Indo-Pacific, innovative approaches to denuclearization, and responses to a rising China.

Indo-Pacific Korea

Issue Brief

Mar 1, 2021

A primer on the proliferation of offensive cyber capabilities

By Winnona DeSombre, Michele Campobasso, Dr. Luca Allodi, Dr. James Shires, JD Work, Robert Morgus, Patrick Howell O’Neill, and Dr. Trey Herr

Offensive cyber capabilities run the gamut from sophisticated, long-term disruptions of physical infrastructure to malware used to target human rights journalists. As these capabilities continue to proliferate with increasing complexity and to new types of actors, the imperative to slow and counter their spread only strengthens.

Arms Control Conflict