Sharper: Allies and Partners

Amid intensifying geopolitical challenges, the United States is finding new ways to address security issues by cultivating and strengthening alliances and partnerships. How can cohesion, coordination and interoperability between allies and partners be improved? What is a sustainable solution that can effectively tackle evolving security issues? CNAS experts are sharpening the conversation on the importance of allies and partners in solving global security challenges. Continue reading this edition of Sharper to explore CNAS expert ideas and recommendations.

Features

The China-Russia Entente in East Asia: Contending with Authoritarian Partnership in a Critical Region

Closer cooperation between China and Russia is a major force driving global geopolitics. But how relations between the two authoritarian powers are shaping specific regional and functional areas remains understudied. This report helps to fill that gap for the critical region of East Asia.

Exploiting Russian Weakness: Leaning in to Support the Pro-Western Orientation of Moldova and Georgia

Russia is bogged down and preoccupied with its war in Ukraine, and as a result the Kremlin has less capacity and fewer resources available to advance its other aims. While the war in Ukraine continues, the transatlantic partners have an opportunity borne out of this crisis to rid the region of Russia’s corrosive influence and more firmly anchor Moldova and Georgia in the good governance, democracy, and economic prosperity that are cornerstones of the Euro-Atlantic space.

Europe’s Take on Economic Security with EU Ambassador to the U.S. Jovita Neliupšienė

Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, the European Union's ambassador to the United States, joins Emily Kilcrease and Geoffrey Gertz on Derisky Business for a wide-ranging conversation on Europe's growing role as a economic statecraft power, the importance of the transatlantic alliance in addressing the strategic challenges posed by Russia and China, and why all Americans should drink champagne.

Aiming Higher: Accelerating U.S.-Australia Cooperation on Precision-Guided Weapons

Modern high-intensity wars increasingly involve long-range conventional missile duels, with great volumes of strike weapons trying to get past surface-to-air missiles designed to intercept them. The global demand for precision-guided weapons (PGMs) continues to climb, while existing stockpiles dwindle and defence production atrophies. Australia’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise, created in recognition of these shortfalls and of mounting regional security challenges, aims to procure weapons to fill capability gaps in the short term while developing Australia’s indigenous capabilities to build, maintain and repair its own weapons in the medium-to-long term. Thus far, GWEO has fallen short of expectations.

Forging a New Era of U.S.-Japan-South Korea Trilateral Cooperation

The large number of both opportunities and challenges facing the trilateral partnership means leaders in all three capitals have difficult decisions to make to sustain the momentum of the partnership. It is imperative for Japan, South Korea, and the United States to take the initiative and seize the opportunities to further institutionalize and strengthen the ties with each other.

Commentaries

On Alliances in Northeast Asia
October 2024

”With Kamala Harris now at the top of the Democratic ticket, Washington analysts assume broad continuity in her foreign policy approach, although nuances may yet emerge,” Duyeon Kim writes in Asia Society. “But while a Harris election and a second Trump presidency contrast sharply on policy and style, the views from Seoul and Tokyo point to enduring elements of American foreign policy that are likely in either outcome.

The Melting Fortress: The United States, Canada, and the Race Against Time in the Arctic
September 2024

“The United States, with a focus alternating between the Middle East and the Pacific, has largely entrusted Arctic security to its allies and partners in the region,“ Andrew Spafford and Samantha Olson argue in Breaking Defense. “The problem: One of those key partners, Canada, is by its own admission unprepared to face the Arctic challenge. Unless the US works quickly to help fill that gap, it means American interests in the Arctic are going to be at risk moving forward.

In the News

Commentary and analysis from Richard Fontaine, Lisa Curtis, and Jacob Stokes.

About the Sharper Series

The CNAS Sharper series features curated analysis and commentary from CNAS experts on the most critical challenges in U.S. foreign policy. From the future of America's relationship with China to the state of U.S. sanctions policy and more, each collection draws on the reports, interviews, and other commentaries produced by experts across the Center to explore how America can strengthen its competitive edge.