Global Risks & Alternative Worlds

Distinguishing today’s signals from the noise, exploring the risks and opportunities of tomorrow, and showcasing alternative futures of a changing world

In Grand Strategy Research

In an era marked by the relentless progression of climate change, the resurgence of state-on-state conflict, and the end of political and social cohesion in the United States and elsewhere, there is an urgent need to track escalating global risks and scope the possibilities for alternative pathways forward. Especially if full scale conflict, a dying planet, and the further deterioration of public trust in Western democracies are to be avoided.

The Global Risks and Alternative Worlds project at Stimson brings together experts and practitioners from diverse backgrounds in order to explore the new challenges facing us with the end of the post-Cold War era. Through reports, policy memos, and workshops, the project helps decision-makers navigate the expanding array of complexities, alert them to both opportunities and risks, and map out what lies ahead through the illustration of alternative futures.

Research & Writing

Commentary
Experts Mathew Burrows and Julian Mueller-Kaler speak with Jeff Rathke at AGI on new risks to the transatlantic partnership
Mathew Burrows • Julian Mueller-Kaler
Op-Ed
Despite the particularly unknowable nature of the international system, there are some things we can know and understand why we know them
Collin Meisel • Caleb L. Petry
Commentary
Persistent conflict in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine, the consequences of climate change, and emerging technologies may pose heightened risks this year
Mathew Burrows • Robert A. Manning
Commentary
By studying the theological-turned-radical ideology of Hamas, analysts can better understand Hamas's political and military goals
Carlo J.V. Caro
Project Note
A summary of conversations and meetings held late September in China and facilitated by the Stimson Center
Julian Mueller-Kaler • Dr. Lanxin Xiang
Commentary
With a new conflict in the Middle East, worldwide geopolitical expectations for the region may change for the worse
Mathew Burrows • Robert A. Manning
Report
Putin’s invasion and Xi’s pandemic mismanagement have opened a narrow window of strategic opportunity for the West
Collin Meisel • Caleb L. Petry • Jonathan D. Moyer...
Video
US-China great power competition will have rippling economic effects in Germany and the rest of the EU
Mathew Burrows • Julian Mueller-Kaler
Commentary
In another world where American democracy fails, Europe has a chance to rise
Julian Mueller-Kaler
Commentary
Identifying and assessing the top economic, geopolitical, and strategic risks for this new year
Mathew Burrows • Robert A. Manning
Commentary
Identifying and assessing the top economic, geopolitical, and strategic risks for 2022
Mathew Burrows • Robert A. Manning
Report
Emerging technology is becoming the new playing field for great power competition in both digital and economic influence
Mathew Burrows • Julian Mueller-Kaler
Commentary
Contending with the present may only foreshadow a future of American and Chinese cooperation
Mathew Burrows • Julian Mueller-Kaler
Commentary
The unipolar world of the 1990s, when the United States was the world's sole superpower, is definitively over and will no longer be a realistic option for any president
Mathew Burrows

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Publications & Project Lists

38 North: News and Analysis on North Korea