International SecurityCategory

U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Background and Issues for Congress

In an international security environment described as one of renewed great power competition, the South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as an arena of U.S.-China strategic competition. U.S.China strategic competition in the SCS forms an element of the Trump Administration’s more confrontational overall approach toward China, and of the Administration’s efforts for promoting its construct… Continue Reading U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Background and Issues for Congress

Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense

World events in recent years have led observers, particularly since late 2013, to conclude that the international security environment in recent years has undergone a shift from the post-Cold War era that began in the late 1980s and early 1990s, also sometimes known as the unipolar moment (with the United States as the unipolar power),… Continue Reading Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense

Five Conundrums: The United States and the Conflict in Syria

For the past 8 years, two U.S. administrations, the United Nations (UN), and numerous foreign governments have sought to end the catastrophic war in Syria and reach a negotiated political settlement to the conflict. Their efforts have repeatedly been complicated, even thwarted, by the highly contested and violent politics underlying the conflict, the sheer number… Continue Reading Five Conundrums: The United States and the Conflict in Syria

Extremist Migration: A Foreign Jihadist Fighter Threat Assessment

This monograph provides an assessment of the emerging threat posed by foreign jihadist fighters following the reduction in territory controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and recommends ways that the U.S. Army should address the issues highlighted. Purchase this volume

Deterrence in the Nordic-Baltic Region: The Role of the Nordic Countries Together With the U.S. Army

With enhanced cooperation from the U.S. Army, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Nordic partner nations could combine efforts with each other and with the Alliance to deliver effective and visible regional deterrence against a resurgent Russia in the Nordic-Baltic region. This monograph by two leading Finnish defense academics explores the regional defense environment and optimum… Continue Reading Deterrence in the Nordic-Baltic Region: The Role of the Nordic Countries Together With the U.S. Army

New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions

      The United States and Russia signed the New START Treaty on April 8, 2010. After more than 20 hearings, the U.S. Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification on December 22, 2010, by a vote of 71-26. Both houses of the Russian parliament—the Duma and Federation Council— approved the treaty in… Continue Reading New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions

United States Foreign Intelligence Relationships: Background, Policy and Legal Authorities, Risks, Benefits

    U.S. intelligence relations with foreign counterparts offer a number of benefits: indications and warning of an attack, expanded geographic coverage, corroboration of national sources, accelerated access to a contingency area, and a diplomatic backchannel. They also present risks of compromise due to poor security, espionage, geopolitical turmoil, manipulation to influence policy, incomplete vetting… Continue Reading United States Foreign Intelligence Relationships: Background, Policy and Legal Authorities, Risks, Benefits

Iran Sanctions

Successive Administrations have used sanctions extensively to try to change Iran’s behavior. Sanctions have a substantial effect on Iran’﷿s economy and on some major decisions, but little or no effect on Iran’﷿s regional malign activities. During 2012-2015, when the global community was relatively united in pressuring Iran, Iran’﷿s economy shrank as its crude oil exports… Continue Reading Iran Sanctions

Russian Challenges from Now into the Next Generation: A Geostrategic Primer

U.S. and Western relations with Russia remain challenged as Russia increasingly reasserts itself on the global stage. Russia remains driven by a worldview based on existential threats—real, perceived, and contrived. As a vast, 11-time zone Eurasian nation with major demographic and economic challenges, Russia faces multiple security dilemmas internally and along its vulnerable and expansive… Continue Reading Russian Challenges from Now into the Next Generation: A Geostrategic Primer

Strategic Overview of Latin America: Identifying New Convergence Centers, Forgotten Territories, and Vital Hubs for Transnational Organized Crime

This book outlines a number of critical strategic challenges in Latin America for U.S. policymakers, which were directly identified in the December 2017 National Security Strategy. However, despite this recognition, these issues are seldom featured in policy discussions about the region. Through the framework of the convergence paradigm, which contends that multiple criminal/ terrorist groups… Continue Reading Strategic Overview of Latin America: Identifying New Convergence Centers, Forgotten Territories, and Vital Hubs for Transnational Organized Crime