Read the most recent CSIS research on U.S. national security strategy.
Esper will likely conduct a “night court” process for DoD, which means that every program will need to be justified in terms of the national defense strategy’s reorientation towards great power conflict.
U.S. desire to exit Afghanistan creates new dynamics for U.S.-Pakistan relations as Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan prepares for his first official visit to the United States. This commentary evaluates the stakes and opportunities of this upcoming dialogue.
With Iran continuing to successfully deploy plausible deniability tactics, the series of sabotage attacks on tankers have served to further escalate tensions with the United States and its regional allies.
A significant number of Russia’s tactics fall in the space between routine statecraft and direct and open warfare, a space sometimes referred to as the gray zone.
On July 12, Turkey received the first elements of the S-400, a fourth-generation surface-to-air Russian missile system. Few recent weapon sales have been as geopolitically charged as this one. U.S. officials have threatened both military and economic sanctions should Turkey acquire the Russian system.
After 18 years of military involvement, the United States is still in Afghanistan. This report addresses the factors that allowed U.S. engagement to grow so drastically, makes recommendations on future action, and explores lessons to learn from for future engagements.
When the United States invaded Afghanistan after the attacks on September 11, 2001, and
overthrew the Taliban regime, senior military officers were not predicting that the United
States would remain militarily involved 18 years later.
With the significant costs of engaging the U.S. in combat and a growing range of non-military tools at their disposal, rivals threaten U.S. interests by operating in the “gray zone.” The U.S must employ a broad spectrum of tools and concepts to deter and compete in the gray zone.
Unless the federal government figures out how to deploy artificial intelligence effectively, its workforce and its mission will be left behind.
Tensions continue to escalate in the Persian Gulf as the Iranians down one U.S. drone, shoot at another and, likely, sponsor attacks on tankers and a Saudi airport.