Featured Reports
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2025 Year in Review
Eleanor Hume, Kyle Rutter | January 29, 2026
Short Supply
Katherine L. Kuzminski, Taren Sylvester | December 11, 2025
Prepared, Not Paralyzed
Janet Egan, Spencer Michaels, Caleb Withers | November 20, 2025
Economic Security in North America
Emily Kilcrease, Geoffrey Gertz | December 03, 2025
Reports
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2025 Year in Review
This installment of Sanctions by the Numbers examines the United States’ use of financial sanctions and entity-based export controls...
Reports
Short Supply
Executive Summary The U.S. military faces a critical challenge: Fewer young Americans are willing to serve, and fewer adults are encouraging them to do so. Because of delibera...
Reports
Prepared, Not Paralyzed
Executive Summary The Trump administration has embraced a pro-innovation approach to artificial intelligence (AI) policy. Its AI Action Plan, released July 2025, underscores t...
Reports
Economic Security in North America
Executive Summary The United States, Mexico, and Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiated during President Donald Trump’s first term includes a novel review clause. By July 2026, t...
CNAS INSIGHTS
CNAS Insights brings timely analysis and expert commentary to the most pressing topics in national security.
Commentary
CNAS Insights | Can the United States Sustain Its War Against Iran?
Last week, the Trump administration hosted U.S. defense companies at the White House for a discussion on defense production. At the center of ongoing operations are questions ...
Commentary
CNAS Insights | Setting the Rules for AI Warfare
The escalating feud between the Pentagon and Anthropic, one of world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies, highlights a crucial question that will shape security i...
Commentary
CNAS Insights | America Isn’t Ready for a Drone War
This week, U.S. personnel near El Paso, Texas, tested a high-energy laser as part of their mission to shoot down cartel drones along the southern border. The resulting confusi...
Press
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In The News
Defense / Middle East Security
Iran War Tactics Evolve from past Conflict’s LessonsAfter more than a week of strikes, the US and Israel appear to be dismantling Iran’s military machine with startling speed. They’ve hit thousands of targets across the country...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
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Trump Generating His Own Fog of Disinformation About Iran War
In The News
While every military conflict brings difficulty in understanding what is really happening at the front lines, President Donald Trump’s war against Iran features its own unique...
By Jim Townsend
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Trump’s Actions in Iran and Venezuela Show Limits of U.S. Sanctions
In The News
The United States has for years deployed a carefully designed economic statecraft playbook to pressure American adversaries to change their behavior....
By Alex Zerden
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In The News
Middle East Security / Technology & National Security
Iranian School Was on U.S. Target List, May Have Been Mistaken as Military SiteThe Iranian elementary school building where scores of children were killed as the U.S. and Israel began their massive aerial campaign was on a U.S. target list and may have b...
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
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In The News
Middle East Security / Energy, Economics & Security
U.S. Consumers Express Dismay over Rising Gas Prices After Attack on IranSurging energy prices caused by the US-Israel war on Iran could ripple across the United States economy, heaping further strain on consumers at a time when cost-of-living issu...
By Rachel Ziemba
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Past Event
Our Research Programs
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How the War on Iran Threatens the Global Economy
This article was originally published in TIME. Around two weeks into the American and Israeli war with Iran, the economic, political, and military costs of the conflict for th...
By Becca Wasser
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Defense / Middle East Security
Iran War Tactics Evolve from past Conflict’s LessonsBy Stacie Pettyjohn
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Defense / Middle East Security
Iran War Could Hinge On Who Runs Low On Munitions FirstBy Becca Wasser
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How the War on Iran Threatens the Global Economy
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Maduro Gone, Khamenei Killed — Is Kim Jong-Un the Next Target as U.S. Normalizes ‘Decapitation Strikes’?
The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during an early-morning raid on January 3, 2026, and then extracting him from his compound at Fo...
By Dr. Go Myong-Hyun
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Defense / Indo-Pacific Security / Middle East Security
America’s Military Is Focused on Iran. Its Biggest Challenge Is China.By CDR Thomas Shugart, USN
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The Other Simmering Conflict on Iran’s Border
By Lisa Curtis
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Maduro Gone, Khamenei Killed — Is Kim Jong-Un the Next Target as U.S. Normalizes ‘Decapitation Strikes’?
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National Security Human Capital Program
It Only Took 2 Weeks for the Iran War to Cause a Draft ScareAn awkwardly worded question and a poorly phrased answer by a government official have launched speculation and debate about the possibility of a draft. Most of it is wrong or...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
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National Security Human Capital Program
Fears of Military Draft Swirl amid Iran Conflict - Expert Weighs InBy Katherine L. Kuzminski
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National Security Human Capital Program / Middle East Security
Trump Appears Ready to Attack Iran as U.S. Strike Force Takes ShapeBy Dr. Jason Dempsey
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Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
Europe’s View on Operation Epic FuryOn February 28, the United States launched Operation Epic Fury, a major military campaign against Iran carried out alongside Israeli strikes. The opening wave targeted Iranian...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
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Reflecting on Four Years of War in Ukraine
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
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Trump Vowed to End Ukraine War in 24 Hours, but He Still Can’t — Putin’s Maximalist Goals to Blame?
By Nicholas Lokker
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Middle East Security / Technology & National Security
Iranian School Was on U.S. Target List, May Have Been Mistaken as Military SiteThe Iranian elementary school building where scores of children were killed as the U.S. and Israel began their massive aerial campaign was on a U.S. target list and may have b...
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
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‘U.S. War on Iran Tactically Very Successful: Strategic Success Will Be ‘Elusive’, Warns Schneiderman
By Daniel Schneiderman
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The Curse of Middle-Sized Wars
By Robert D. Kaplan
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Trump’s Actions in Iran and Venezuela Show Limits of U.S. Sanctions
The United States has for years deployed a carefully designed economic statecraft playbook to pressure American adversaries to change their behavior....
By Alex Zerden
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How the Pentagon Is Fumbling the Nuclear Energy Renaissance
By Will Rogers
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Middle East Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Will Trump’s Shipping Insurance Plan Work?By Rachel Ziemba
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Trump’s Actions in Iran and Venezuela Show Limits of U.S. Sanctions
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Middle East Security / Technology & National Security
Iranian School Was on U.S. Target List, May Have Been Mistaken as Military SiteThe Iranian elementary school building where scores of children were killed as the U.S. and Israel began their massive aerial campaign was on a U.S. target list and may have b...
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
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Technology & National Security
Silicon Valley Goes to WarBy Paul Scharre
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Technology & National Security
Anthropic-Pentagon Clash Spotlights the Role of AI in WarBy Paul Scharre
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Middle East Security / National Security Law Program
Is the U.S. Fighting a War Without Rules?Military rules of engagement exist to specify 'who' and 'what' can be attacked. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. is fighting Iran without "stupid" rules of eng...
By Mark Nevitt
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Can a President Unilaterally Withdraw—and Rejoin—the UN Climate Treaty?
By Mark Nevitt
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The Fed, Ed Accreditation, and DHS
By Carrie Cordero
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CNAS Insights | Why the “Swing States” Approach Is Right for Africa
Africa watchers in Washington, D.C., were dispirited—though not surprised—when an email calling the continent “a peripheral—rather than a core theater for US interest” recentl...
By Gibbs McKinley
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How the U.S. and South Africa Could Use the G20 to Plot a Path Forward
By Richard Fontaine & Gibbs McKinley
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Losing the Swing States
By Richard Fontaine & Gibbs McKinley
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CNAS Insights | Why the “Swing States” Approach Is Right for Africa
