CNAS 2025 Wrapped: Reports

Throughout 2025, CNAS experts cut through the noise of a volatile policy environment to provide bold, innovative, and actionable analysis of the most pressing national security issues of today and tomorrow. Over the course of the year, CNAS published 32 reports covering subjects ranging from the revitalization of the U.S. defense industrial base (DIB) to the role of global swing states in great power competition with China to the future of the Quad partnership between the United States, Australia, India, and Japan.

At a time when the U.S. role in the international community hangs in the balance, CNAS experts continue to develop pragmatic and principled national security policy. Read some of the most popular reports from 2025 to prepare for another year of in-depth research and analysis on the key issues the United States faces.

Top Reports of 2025

The First 100 Days — Richard Fontaine, Geoffrey Gertz, Emily Kilcrease, Janet Egan, Paul Scharre, Vivek Chilukuri, Sam Howell, Constanza M. Vidal Bustamente, Stacie Pettyjohn, Carlton Haelig, Becca Wasser, Josh Wallin, Jacob Stokes, Lisa Curtis, Katherine Kuzminski, Carrie Cordero, Jonathan Lord, and Jim Townsend

A new presidential administration means new priorities and perspectives. Published on Inauguration Day, The First 100 Days features 15 essays from CNAS experts that lay out practical, bipartisan recommendations for the second Trump administration’s first 100 days in office. The series covers everything from economic security to U.S. AI innovation to the military recruiting crisis.

Sanctions by the Numbers: 2024 Year in Review — Eleanor Hume and Kyle Rutter

The United States continues to expand its use of sanctions and entity-based export controls—largely in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, competition with China, and conflict in the Middle East. Eleanor Hume and Kyle Rutter break down Washington’s coercive economic toolkit in 2024 and look ahead to what 2025 might bring.

Countering the Swarm — Stacie Pettyjohn and Molly Campbell

The proliferation of cheap drones has shattered America's decades-long air dominance, and the Pentagon's current counter-drone investments fall short. Authors Stacie Pettyjohn and Molly Campbell provide actionable recommendations for building the layered defense systems and AI-enabled capabilities the Joint Force needs to survive—and win—in the drone age, especially against a rapidly advancing Chinese threat.

From Production Line to Front Lines — Becca Wasser and Philip Sheers

Without a strong, resilient, and productive defense industrial base, the United States will be unable to deter aggression from China and Russia—let alone win a great power conflict in the future. Becca Wasser and Philip Sheers analyze the current state of the U.S. DIB before providing recommendations to make the U.S. DIB more capable, responsive, flexible, and resilient.

Quad: The Next Phase — Lisa Curtis, Kareen Hart, Ryan Claffey, Keerthi Martyn, and Thomas Corel

As the competition between the United States and China intensifies, the Quad—the partnership between the United States, Australia, India, and Japan—has become a key player in Indo-Pacific economic and tech cooperation. The authors recommend that the Quad partners deepen and expand their work to achieve their shared goal of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Global Swing States and the New Great Power Competition — Richard Fontaine and Gibbs McKinley

With increasing challenges to the U.S.-dominated international order from countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, six “global swing states”— Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Türkiye—could be pivotal to the future global order. Richard Fontaine and Gibbs McKinley give an overview of each swing state’s position in the global order before offering specific recommendations for future U.S. engagement.

Understanding Russia’s Calculus on Opportunistic Aggression in Europe — Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Kate Johnston, and Greg Weaver

In the future, Russia might see U.S. involvement in a conflict in the Indo-Pacific as an opportunity to undermine NATO. The authors take stock of the capabilities needed to defend U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific and Europe and provide a look into Russia’s possible opportunity calculus.

Countering the Digital Silk Road — Vivek Chilukuri and Ruby Scanlon

Over the last 10 years, China has used the Digital Silk Road (DSR) to strengthen its technology leadership and geopolitical ties. As digital infrastructure and emerging technologies become increasingly important to national security, the United States and its allies and partners must offer an alternative to the DSR. Vivek Chilukuri and Ruby Scanlon provide an in-depth analysis of the implications the DSR has on the United States and lay out a comprehensive set of recommendations aimed at strengthening U.S. and allied efforts to counter the DSR.