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Topic: Strategy

Read the most recent CSIS research on U.S. national security strategy.

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Opinion / Strategy

Bad Idea: The Misguided Quest to Recreate USIA

Calls to revive the Cold War-era United States Information Agency (USIA) are rooted more in the lack of cohesive strategy for global public diplomacy than in any real suitability of the agency for the modern era. Instead, the government should deploy existing tools and resources to engage global publics and advance U.S. interests.

December 4, 2020 — Kristin Lord
Opinion / Strategy

Bad Idea: Prioritizing STEM Education at the Expense of Civic Education

Since the launch of Sputnik during the Cold War, the United States has prioritized STEM education in an effort to grow and maintain a competitive edge — often at the expense of civic education. However, U.S. national security also depends on Americans’ understanding of and commitment to our democratic institutions.

December 4, 2020 — Suzanne Spaulding, Devi Nair
Acting Defense Secretary briefs press
Opinion / Strategy

Bad Idea: Treating “The Pentagon” and “The White House” as if They Were People

Using “the Pentagon” or “the White House” as if they were actors in the political process risks misleading readers from what is going on.

December 1, 2020 — Mark Cancian
Opinion / Strategy

Bad Idea: “Great Power Competition” Terminology

The 2018 National Defense Strategy called out the “reemergence of long-term, strategic competition.” While this was a smart shift in focus, the widely used “great power competition” is the wrong term to describe this new priority.

December 1, 2020 — Zack Cooper
Analysis / Reform, Strategy

Nuclear Command and Civilian Control: Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Nuclear Weapons

In the nuclear realm, the challenge of civilian control is solved with presidential authority. Understanding and addressing the concessions that presidents might make to military expertise surfaces the precarious nature of civilian nuclear command and control.

November 18, 2020 — Alice Hunt Friend, Reja Younis
Analysis / Forces, Strategy

Adapting to the Hypersonic Era

Conventional hypersonic strike weapons may undermine deterrence by complicating early-warning and increasing the vulnerability of forward-based forces to surprise attack below the nuclear threshold. Nevertheless, history shows that adaptation to strategically disruptive technologies is possible.

November 2, 2020 — Ian Williams
Analysis / Strategy

A Balance of Instability: Effects of a Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite Weapons Ban on Nuclear Stability

How would new norms for testing space weapons affect nuclear stability and traditional deterrence? Would a direct-ascent ASAT limit or ban create stability or further destabilize the space and nuclear domains?

October 21, 2020 — Kaitlyn Johnson
Analysis / Forces, Strategy

Cross-domain Competition: How Organizational Stovepipes Create Risks for Shared Missions

Today, traditional nuclear missions increasingly intersect with emerging technical domains such as space and cyber. How can policymakers mitigate the risks that bureaucratic competition can pose to the shared mission of defending the nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) system?

October 15, 2020 — Morgan Dwyer
Analysis / Forces, Strategy

The Conventional Force Perspective: Nuclear Integration in Doctrine, Concepts, and Exercises

What would detailed conventional nuclear integration in doctrine, concepts, and large-scale exercises look like? Joint concepts inform high-level military doctrine, which in turn provides guidance on what the military should aim to achieve through planning and training in large-scale exercises.

October 8, 2020 — Adam Saxton, Mark Cancian
Analysis / Strategy

Breaking the Silo: Examining International Security at the Nuclear Nexus

Understanding international security issues at the “nuclear nexus” is critical for managing a contemporary security environment characterized by rapid technological innovation, increased strategic competition, and a looming nuclear shadow.

October 8, 2020 — Rebecca Hersman, Reja Younis, Maxwell Simon
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