Mekong-US Partnership Track 1.5 Policy Dialogue on Nature-based Solutions Report Launch

In 2020, the Lower Mekong Initiative was upgraded and expanded to the Mekong-U.S. Partnership (MUSP). The MUSP Track 1.5 Policy Dialogue series is a flagship initiative of the Partnership and includes seven virtual and in-person dialogues from 2021 to 2023 focusing on key policy and sustainability challenges facing Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. This […]

Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East Beyond Iran

As Iran moves ever closer to the ability to make nuclear weapons in the absence of a revived JCPOA, the region as a whole faces a new proliferation crisis. Saudi Arabia has taken steps to acquire a nuclear hedging capacity, the United Arab Emirates is acquiring knowledge through an ostensibly civilian program, and Israel possesses […]

Russia’s Road to War with Ukraine

Tracing the relationship between the two countries from the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 to Putin’s invasion in 2022, what emerges from Samir Puri’s book, Russia’s Road to War with Ukraine, is a portrait of a nation caught in a geopolitical tug of war between Russia and the West. While Russia is identified […]

Understanding Kim Jong Un’s Economic Policymaking Phase II: Results and Implications

The North Korean government has become increasingly secretive about its economic information, making it difficult for analysts to gather accurate data, determine precisely what the country is doing, and how it works from within. Join Stimson Center nonresident fellows Robert Carlin and Rachel Minyoung Lee as they discuss results from the second phase of the […]

If We Don’t Sell: What Happens When States are Cut Off from US Arms

Read the full issue brief, “If we don’t sell it, someone else will:” Dependence & Influence in US Arms Transfers. “If we don’t sell them arms, someone else will,” has become a well-known refrain in the arms trade world, implying that partners cut off from U.S. defense exports will quickly source them from other suppliers. […]

Rethinking Accountability in the US Security Sector

Conventional defense

Accountability is a fundamental tenet of democratic governance and carries especially profound consequences in the context of a state’s security institutions. Shortcomings in the accountability practices of US security institutions, from domestic law enforcement to military operations abroad, can both enable abuse and undercut confidence in and durability of American global leadership and democratic governance. […]

Lessons from Ukraine for Maritime East Asia

Japan

The security environment in East Asia is undergoing shifts in the field and in the regional capitals, especially in Japan, where the new National Security Strategy signals major changes for Japan’s defense policy. As tensions throughout the East China Sea increase, what are the implications for the United States and Japan’s efforts to strengthen norms […]

Forum on the Arms Trade Annual Conference

Panel 1 US Arms Sales Reform and Oversight in 2023 and Beyond (2:00 – 3:00 PM EST) With two years remaining in the Biden administration and a changed political landscape of the 118th Congress, advocates, policymakers, and legislators alike face both challenges and opportunities in security assistance reform. Join the Forum on the Arms Trade, […]