strategist
Xi’s Vision for Transforming Global Governance: A Strategic Challenge for Washington and Its Allies
What does China's "community of common destiny," recently emphasized by Chinese President Xi Jinping, mean for the future of the international order? Liza Tobin unpacks what, precisely, this vision entails and what it might mean for the United States and its…
Military Exercises as Geopolitical Messaging in the NATO-Russia Dynamic: Reassurance, Deterrence, and (In)stability
Military exercises are often viewed as geopolitical tools used to boost stability and enhance deterrence. However, they can sometimes have the exact opposite effect: increasing instability and contributing to dangerous levels of escalation. Nowhere is this…
Bill and Boris: A Window Into a Most Important Post-Cold War Relationship
Against the backdrop of an enormous power differential between their two countries, Clinton and Yeltsin established a close personal rapport. They used those positive feelings to interact effectively even when they were being frank in their disagreements, the…
From Engagement to Rivalry: Tools to Compete with China
To arrive at a new consensus, the United States needs to address the weaknesses in Americans’ knowledge of China while rethinking the connections between the ways China is analyzed and how policy is made.
America’s Relation to World Order: Two Indictments, Two Thought Experiments, and a Misquotation
The State is undergoing a crisis of legitimacy owing to its inability to cope with novel problems of weapons proliferation, transnational threats including climate change, a fragile global financial infrastructure, cultural influences carried by electronic…
Rediscovering Statecraft in a Changing Post-War Order
If Washington doubles down on U.S. military and geopolitical predominance, it risks transforming the emerging competitive era into something far more confrontational and zero-sum than it needs to be. If it hopes to retain its position of leadership, the United…
Getting Out and About: Talking with Americans Beyond Washington About Their Place in the World
A small team at CNAS is getting out of the Beltway “bubble” to talk to Americans about what role the United States should play on the international scene.
Marching Toward a U.S.-North Korea Summit: The Historical Case for Optimism, Pessimism, and Caution
The history of denuclearization efforts on the Korean peninsula gives reason for pessimism, caution, and optimism. Attempting to critically engage that history can help the United States narrow uncertainty, prepare for a long diplomatic process should one…
Changing Course: Making the Case (Old and New) for American Seapower
In order to build the 355-ship Navy the United States needs, we will have to tell a new, and more compelling, story.
U.S. Engagement in the Western Hemisphere
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discusses the United States' enduring partnership with South America, Central America, North America, and the Caribbean.
The International Order and Nuclear Negotiations with Iran
The international order is not just an abstract concept, but rather is of concrete value to U.S. national security, as exemplified by America's policy toward Iran.
Too Much History: American Policy and East Asia in the Shadow of the Past
East Asian countries have a tendency to recall their historical grievances with rival nations, thus increasing the risk of eventual conflict. American policy toward East Asia, on the other hand, tends to have too short of a memory.