The last time a U.S. President invoked the Insurrection Act was in response to the 1992 L.A. Riots. This vignette highlights how federal forces were mobilized to address the unrest in L.A.
This past summer, federal forces were deployed to D.C. in response to protests addressing racial injustice. This vignette explains some of the unique features of the D.C. deployments, and highlights key considerations about the laws and norms that guide domestic federal force deployments.
Geopolitical competition is increasingly playing out in the gray zone—the space beyond diplomacy and short of conventional war. The nature of this competition is forcing the United States to confront the liabilities of its strengths. This report assesses current U.S. government actions to deter, campaign through, and respond to competitors’ gray zone tactics.
This study conducted by the CSIS Cooperative Defense Project assesses the levels of progress on implementing reforms throughout the security sector assistance enterprise and developing an action plan that addresses specific issues along planning, operations, policy and doctrine, and training lines of effort.
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen, wrought by a conflict entering its fourth year, has called into question the nature and purpose of American security partnership with Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. government’s Stabilization Assistance Review (SAR) framework provides an opportunity to clarify and streamline stabilization assistance, though implementation will require sustained leadership, an interagency roadmap, new processes, bureaucratic incentives, and a review of authorities and resources.
As U.S. sanctions on Iran are re-imposed, questions loom within and outside the United States. Past unilateral sanctions against Iran have been perceived as unsuccessful, and the Trump administration’s resumed reliance on this controversial economic tool as the main driver of its strategy raises several questions. Are these sanctions doomed to fail? Is hinging U.S. strategy almost entirely on economic sanctions the most effective way to counter the Islamic Republic? Will Iran find ways to subvert not just economic sanctions but other U.S. countermeasures as well?
The 2018 National Defense Strategy elevated security cooperation in stressing the importance of “Strengthening alliances and attracting new partners.” This has typically been an area of strength for the United States in ensuring U.S. superiority in an era of strategic competition. However, countervailing priorities in the current U.S. administration challenge this formulation.
Although SOF provides a valued role in performing TAA and security cooperation missions; it is misguided for the defense department to solely rely on SOF. This piece examines the trade-offs of limiting security cooperation missions to SOF.
In October, ISP released a comprehensive assessment of the strategy formulation processes within the U.S. Department of Defense. Formulating National Security Strategy: Past Experiences and Future Choices offers insights into the series of choices facing policymakers during a strategy review. The study, prepared for DOD and mandated by Congress, was helped shaped the process for the 2018 National Defense Strategy.