Featured Reports
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2025 Year in Review
Eleanor Hume, Kyle Rutter | January 29, 2026
Short Supply
Katherine L. Kuzminski, Taren Sylvester | December 11, 2025
Prepared, Not Paralyzed
Janet Egan, Spencer Michaels, Caleb Withers | November 20, 2025
Economic Security in North America
Emily Kilcrease, Geoffrey Gertz | December 03, 2025
Reports
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2025 Year in Review
This installment of Sanctions by the Numbers examines the United States’ use of financial sanctions and entity-based export controls...
Reports
Short Supply
Executive Summary The U.S. military faces a critical challenge: Fewer young Americans are willing to serve, and fewer adults are encouraging them to do so. Because of delibera...
Reports
Prepared, Not Paralyzed
Executive Summary The Trump administration has embraced a pro-innovation approach to artificial intelligence (AI) policy. Its AI Action Plan, released July 2025, underscores t...
Reports
Economic Security in North America
Executive Summary The United States, Mexico, and Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiated during President Donald Trump’s first term includes a novel review clause. By July 2026, t...
CNAS INSIGHTS
CNAS Insights brings timely analysis and expert commentary to the most pressing topics in national security.
Commentary
CNAS Insights | America Isn’t Ready for a Drone War
This week, U.S. personnel near El Paso, Texas, tested a high-energy laser as part of their mission to shoot down cartel drones along the southern border. The resulting confusi...
Commentary
CNAS Insights | Trump's Plan B for Tariffs
The administration is already pivoting to a new tariff architecture that will mostly, though not entirely, recreate his previous tariffs....
Commentary
CNAS Insights | Why the “Swing States” Approach Is Right for Africa
Africa watchers in Washington, D.C., were dispirited—though not surprised—when an email calling the continent “a peripheral—rather than a core theater for US interest” recentl...
Press
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Trump’s Iran Conflict Cuts the World off from a Crucial Energy Source
In The News
Countries across Europe and Asia are facing a potential energy crisis after an Irani drone strike shut down Qatar’s exports of liquefied natural gas this week, cutting off nat...
By Rachel Ziemba
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After Iran Strikes, N. Korea Sees Decapitation Threat as ‘Much More Real’: Experts
In The News
U.S. strikes on Iran, coupled with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s vow to “deal with” Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and that the effort would send “plenty of signals,” were inte...
By Dr. Go Myong-Hyun
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In The News
Technology & National Security
Anthropic’s AI Tool Claude Central to U.S. Campaign in Iran, amid a Bitter FeudIn order to strike a blistering 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours of its attack on Iran, the U.S. military leveraged the most advanced artificial intelligence it’s ever used...
By Paul Scharre
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Trump’s Shifting Iran Strategies Risk a Chaotic Global Endgame
In The News
In the opening days of the Iran war, US President Donald Trump and his team have offered a series of often changing objectives for the campaign....
By Richard Fontaine
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In The News
Defense / Middle East Security
Why Iran’s Warship ‘Didn’t Have a Chance’ Against a Los Angeles-Class SubmarineThe U.S. military’s operations against Iran reached a new level of intensity on Tuesday when an American submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, marking th...
By Tom Shugart
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Our Research Programs
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Deterrence at Scale
Introduction From the Punic Wars to Franco-Prussian competition in the Renaissance to World War II, history is replete with examples of when industrial capacity—not simply tac...
By Jennifer McArdle
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Defense / Middle East Security
$4.2m U.S. Torpedo Detonates Under Iranian Warship in Historic ‘No Mercy’ StrikeBy Tom Shugart
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Defense / Middle East Security
Why Iran’s Warship ‘Didn’t Have a Chance’ Against a Los Angeles-Class SubmarineBy Tom Shugart
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Deterrence at Scale
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After Iran Strikes, N. Korea Sees Decapitation Threat as ‘Much More Real’: Experts
U.S. strikes on Iran, coupled with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s vow to “deal with” Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and that the effort would send “plenty of signals,” were inte...
By Dr. Go Myong-Hyun
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In Brief: Increasing Tensions Between China and Japan Create Risks for the Region
By Jacob Stokes
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Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
China’s First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier Will Challenge U.S. Sea PowerBy Tom Shugart
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After Iran Strikes, N. Korea Sees Decapitation Threat as ‘Much More Real’: Experts
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National Security Human Capital Program / Middle East Security
Trump Appears Ready to Attack Iran as U.S. Strike Force Takes ShapeA lack of calamities during those previous operations has made it easy to overlook the potential pitfalls of future missions, said Jason Dempsey, a retired Army officer who st...
By Dr. Jason Dempsey
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National Security Human Capital Program
Army to Be More Selective with Reenlistment Bonuses Under New GuidanceBy Katherine L. Kuzminski
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Defense / Indo-Pacific Security / National Security Human Capital Program
The U.S. Army’s Quiet Rotation in the PhilippinesBy Katherine L. Kuzminski & Stacie Pettyjohn
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Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
Europe’s View on Operation Epic FuryOn February 28, the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, a major military campaign against Iran carried out alongside Israeli strikes. The opening wave targeted Iranian...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
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Reflecting on Four Years of War in Ukraine
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
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Trump Vowed to End Ukraine War in 24 Hours, but He Still Can’t — Putin’s Maximalist Goals to Blame?
By Nicholas Lokker
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Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
Europe’s View on Operation Epic FuryOn February 28, the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, a major military campaign against Iran carried out alongside Israeli strikes. The opening wave targeted Iranian...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
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Trump’s Iran Conflict Cuts the World off from a Crucial Energy Source
By Rachel Ziemba
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Defense / Middle East Security
$4.2m U.S. Torpedo Detonates Under Iranian Warship in Historic ‘No Mercy’ StrikeBy Tom Shugart
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Middle East Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Oil Surges, Gas Tops $3 Nationwide as War Heats Up. What Comes Next?Oil prices traded higher March 3 as the U.S.-Israel-Iran war widened, setting up steeper prices for some of the items American consumers depend on....
By Rachel Ziemba
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Could There Be a Way to Make Economic Sanctions More Mission Oriented?
By Lt Col Mary Hossier
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Boosting Economic Security Collaboration Among G7 Economies and like-Minded Allies
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
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Technology & National Security
CNAS Insights | Setting the Rules for AI WarfareThe escalating feud between the Pentagon and Anthropic, one of world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies, highlights a crucial question that will shape security i...
By Paul Scharre
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Middle East Security / Technology & National Security
AI and the Future of WarfareBy Paul Scharre
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Middle East Security / Technology & National Security
AI Goes to WarBy Paul Scharre
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Can a President Unilaterally Withdraw—and Rejoin—the UN Climate Treaty?
This article was originally published in Lawfare. On Jan. 7, the Trump administration withdrew the United States from more than 60 international agreements and organizations, ...
By Mark Nevitt
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The Fed, Ed Accreditation, and DHS
By Carrie Cordero
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Accountability and Oversight Concerns in DHS
By Carrie Cordero
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Can a President Unilaterally Withdraw—and Rejoin—the UN Climate Treaty?
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CNAS Insights | Why the “Swing States” Approach Is Right for Africa
Africa watchers in Washington, D.C., were dispirited—though not surprised—when an email calling the continent “a peripheral—rather than a core theater for US interest” recentl...
By Gibbs McKinley
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How the U.S. and South Africa Could Use the G20 to Plot a Path Forward
By Richard Fontaine & Gibbs McKinley
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Losing the Swing States
By Richard Fontaine & Gibbs McKinley
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CNAS Insights | Why the “Swing States” Approach Is Right for Africa
