Unlocking the Gates of Eurasia: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Its Implications for US Grand Strategy
For all its flaws, the Belt and Road Initiative is much more coherent and resilient than many believe.
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Blog
Kill or Be Killed is No Strategy
The Trump administration’s decision to kill top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani illuminates one of the most recurrent and self-destructive fallacies of strategic thinking: that our enemies act as they do because of their “nature,” while we act as we do because we face serious structural or environmental constraints.
Read MoreThe More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: The Failure of Regime‐Change Operations
Whether trying to achieve political, security, economic, or humanitarian goals, scholars have found that regime-change missions do not succeed as envisioned. Instead, they are likely to spark civil wars, lead to lower levels of democracy, increase repression, and in the end, draw the foreign intervener into lengthy nation-building projects.
Read MoreIs America Prepared for Great- power Competition?
As the Trump administration signals a return to great-power competition, it has also damaged the United States’ ability to prevail.
Read MoreAmerica’s Withdrawal From Syria: Politics of Betrayal in Historical Context
The fact of the matter is the United States has made analogous military withdrawals in comparaable circumstances before when it intervened in areas peripheral to its national interests, such as Syria. In such circumstances, America’s intervention does not serve a clear vital interest and less costly policy options might exist that could still protect America’s peripheral interests without risking long-term attachment to a specific area.
Read MoreToxic waste dumping in conflict zones: Evidence from 1980s Lebanon
onflict zones provide ideal conditions for waste criminals, that waste crime is an easy way for militias to profit, and that environmental crime differs sharply from other modes of predation in the political science literature.
Read MoreCSS Research and Policy Seminar with Jon Caverley
ow is it possible that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can be almost universally reviled within the United States as a programmatic disaster, and yet has never lost a competitive tender abroad and continues to attract considerable demand from foreign air forces? The answer, he suggests, lies with the unique abilities of the United States to develop and control cutting-edge military technologies.
Read MoreReview: The Costs of Conversation by Oriana Skylar Mastro
“After a war breaks out, what factors influence warring parties’ decisions about whether to offer talks, and when may their position on wartime diplomacy change?” (1). Her book addresses a crucial theoretical issue that the literature has long neglected. But it also offers compelling historical case studies and important policy implications.
Read MoreHow Does the Kremlin Kick When It’s Down?
The Kremlin is losing the public’s tolerance to the severe mismanagement of the state. How will this domestic turmoil affect Russia’s international behavior?
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Engaging Practitioners: CSS hosts Ambassador Derek Mitchell
At our Engaging Practitioners event that attracted a full house, Ambassador Mitchell spoke about the different stages of his career, elaborating on his service on Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and as Ambassador to Burma.
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