National Security

How can the U.S. sustainably advance its national security interests in the face of sharp fiscal constraints at home and significant shifts in the global distribution of power abroad? 

The current U.S. security apparatus was originally designed for the Cold War, but the world has changed dramatically since then. The contemporary security landscape is marked by prolonged interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the emergence of powerful new political and economic state and nonstate actors, global financial crises, and rising public debt. In a moment when the limits of American resources and the growth of new foreign powers are increasingly salient to decision makers, it is essential to consider holistically the effects of America’s international policies – military, diplomatic, and economic – on the long-term security of the country.

Questions within the initiative include:

Sustainable Security: How can the United States craft a sustainable national security strategy in a world characterized by shifting threats, resource constraints, and a changing balance of power?

Reassessing Threat Assessment: What threat assessment practices have been most accurate in the past, and how can they help us discern better and worse approaches to assessment in the future?