strategist
Cyber Risk Across the U.S. Nuclear Enterprise
As the United States embarks on an effort to modernize many elements of its nuclear enterprise, it needs to consider how dependencies on modern information technologies could lead to cyber-induced failures of nuclear deterrence or to nuclear war. The Biden…
U.S. National Security Strategy: Lessons Learned
The Biden administration, as well as future administrations, should look to the national security strategy planning efforts of previous administrations for lessons on how to craft a strategy that establishes a competitive approach to America’s rivals that is…
America’s Alliances After Trump: Lessons from the Summer of ’69
Richard Nixon's 1969 Guam doctrine led America's allies in Asia to pursue a variety of strategies based on perceptions of America's reliability. If the Biden administration wants to strengthen the country's alliances moving forward, and avoid repeating Nixon's…
A U.S. Media Strategy for the 2020s: Lessons from the Cold War
The incoming Biden administration has an opportunity to strengthen U.S. national security by revitalizing U.S. international broadcasting, both in terms of organizational structure and overall strategy. In order to do so, it should look to the Cold War history…
The U.S. Navy’s Loss of Command of the Seas to China and How to Regain It
In 2005, a U.S. Navy plan was forwarded to Congress: It entailed reducing force structure and transforming to a capabilities-based forward force posture. However, the Navy continued to pursue unattainable force levels and, today, has lost command of the seas…
Fixing Democracy: The Election Security Crisis and Solutions for Mending It
The 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida led to the widespread adoption of electronic voting machines in the United States. Yet these machines have proven to be more problematic than the punch card machines that precipitated Florida's crisis. Poorly…
From Reaction to Action: Adopting a Competitive Posture in Cyber Diplomacy
Adversaries probe the United States and its allies daily in cyberspace. American cyber diplomacy has improved but still leaves the United States vulnerable to continuous, state-sponsored cyber aggression that is having strategic effects, even though that…
Wormhole Escalation in the New Nuclear Age
Increasingly capable and intrusive digital information technologies, advanced dual-use military capabilities, and diffused global power structures will reshape future crises and conflicts between nuclear-armed adversaries and challenge traditional ways of…
Applying Method to Madness: A User’s Guide to Causal Inference in Policy Analysis
Jessica Blankshain and Andrew Stigler attempt to make the analytical tools frequently used in social science research more “user friendly” by explaining what it means to investigate causality. By providing a reader's guide to social science and policy…
Economic Might, National Security, and the Future of American Statecraft
Given the many significant challenges America faces today — including high levels of debt, political discord, the rise of China, and the emergence of Asian economies as the drivers of global growth — what is the country's plan for preserving its…
One War Is Not Enough: Strategy and Force Planning for Great-Power Competition
What are the implications of the Department of Defense's adoption of a one-war standard that is focused on defeating a great-power rival? Hal Brands and Evan Braden Montgomery discuss the gap between America's global commitments and the military challenges it…
Coercion Theory: A Basic Introduction for Practitioners
While coercion theory may be well understood in the academy, it is less well understood by practitioners, especially in the military. This can cause difficulties in civil-military communications and cause problems for national strategy and military outcomes.…