Content

Issue Brief

Apr 6, 2026

From alignment to action: Building a durable US-Argentina critical minerals partnership

By Reed Blakemore, Alexis Harmon, Ignacio Albe

For decades, Argentina's mining potential has been widely recognized without translating into reliable supply. That pattern might be breaking, and deeper US–Argentina cooperation could accelerate development while advancing shared economic and strategic priorities.

Argentina Critical Minerals

EnergySource

Apr 6, 2026

Why US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s grid and water systems would be counterproductive

By Joseph Webster, Ginger Matchett

Striking energy and water-related infrastructure in Iran would do little damage to the county's military capabilities. Instead, it would hurt civilians and potentially escalate the conflict.

Energy & Environment Geopolitics & Energy Security

Dispatches

Apr 3, 2026

Attacking Iran’s energy and water infrastructure is not a winning strategy

By Thomas S. Warrick

The Iranian regime uses a peculiar sense of symmetry in how it conducts military campaigns that cuts against the proposed US plan.

Conflict Iran

EnergySource

Apr 2, 2026

The Maritime Action Plan could be a platform for nuclear innovation at sea

By Joel Spangenberg

To ensure commercial and military competitiveness at sea, the United States should leverage its recently released Maritime Action Plan to incorporate nuclear power in its fleets.

Energy & Environment Indo-Pacific

Dispatches

Apr 1, 2026

Trump’s path forward on Iran will determine US-Israeli war alignment

By Daniel B. Shapiro, Cleary Waldo

The US president faces three main options: pursue a negotiated off-ramp, adopt an ongoing attrition strategy, or “escalate to de-escalate” militarily. 

Conflict Iran

Dispatches

Mar 31, 2026

By alienating its intelligence partners, the US risks losing more than trust

By Tressa Guenov

Taking actions that erode its intelligence partners’ trust threatens to put the United States at a strategic disadvantage against its adversaries.

Europe & Eurasia Indo-Pacific

UkraineAlert

Mar 31, 2026

Ukraine bombs Russia’s Baltic ports as Zelenskyy targets Putin’s oil exports

By David Kirichenko

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy says the country’s partners have called on Kyiv to scale down attacks on Russian energy infrastructure after drone strikes reportedly reduced Russia’s oil export capacity by at least 40 percent as global energy prices surge amid the Iran War, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict Drones

Dispatches

Mar 30, 2026

The Iran war has set in motion a global realignment

By Ratko M. Knežević

This period may be remembered not as a series of isolated crises, but as the moment when global ambiguity collapsed.

Conflict Economy & Business
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, CALIF., CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES 12.18.2025

Report

Mar 30, 2026

How NATO can integrate AI to prevail in future algorithmic warfare

By Dominika Kunertova

NATO’s competitive edge in the era of emerging and disruptive technologies will come from treating AI as a general-purpose enabler embedded across the Alliance’s digital backbone. Military AI does not generate new risks but creates more room for human error and miscalculation. Accidents and inadvertent escalation thus become more likely as military systems bring in more AI components.

Artificial Intelligence Cybersecurity

In the News

Mar 28, 2026

Daniels published in RAND on AI competition between the US and China

By Atlantic Council

On March 26, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Owen Daniels published a policy paper for the RAND Corporation on “Open Models, Soft Power, and Spectrum of US-China Artificial Intelligence Competition.”

Artificial Intelligence China

Experts

Events