Improvements and expansions of adversaries’ conventional and nuclear capabilities are shifting the global balance of power and eroding strategic stability. The Defense Program studies how the United States can strengthen deterrence and manage escalation risks across domains in an era of intensified competition against multiple near-peer adversaries. This research considers the role of space in future conflict, emerging kinetic threats to the U.S. homeland, and evolving challenges in nuclear deterrence.
Event
From Production Lines to Front Lines: Revitalizing the U.S. Defense Industrial Base for Future Great Power Conflict
Becca Wasser, Stacie Pettyjohn
Jun 24, 2025
Event
"Free, Open, and Secure": Mobilizing for Indo-Pacific Security in 2025
Lisa Curtis, Stacie Pettyjohn
Oct 2, 2025
Research Team:
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Stacie Pettyjohn
Senior Fellow and Director, Defense Program
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Carlton Haelig
Fellow, Defense Program
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Philip Sheers
Research Associate, Defense Program
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Molly Campbell
Research Assistant, Defense Program
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Kalena Blake
Research Assistant, Defense Program
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Natasha Lander Finch
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Defense Program
Highlights
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The Astronomical Cost of Defeating ‘Any Foreign Aerial Attack’
Video
Building Trump’s proposed missile and air defense system would be an enormous task — and the president’s spending target is likely just a fraction of the final price. CNAS adj...
By Becca Wasser
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Over the Brink
Reports
A new era of nuclear deterrence is taking shape in the Indo-Pacific theater. As the People’s Republic of China (PRC) dramatically expands and modernizes its nuclear arsenal, t...
By Andrew Metrick, Philip Sheers & Stacie Pettyjohn
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The U.S. Military Needs to Relearn Nuclear Signaling
Commentary
This deterioration matters because beyond the quantity and quality of the United States’ nuclear forces, nuclear deterrence will rest on the country’s ability to effectively s...
By Philip Sheers
