Through polling and research, roundtables, speaking engagements, online events and other public outreach, ASP seeks to improve Americans’ understanding of the security challenges facing the United States, to spur rational and productive dialogue that fosters consensus, and to prescribe substantive, innovative solutions.

American Competitiveness

Perhaps the greatest long-term threat to America’s security is the crumbling foundation of our power: our overall economic health, our national debt, and the winnowing investment we make in our own society and our own citizens.  The great challenges of the twenty-first century will require a United States that is strong and nimble financially as well as militarily.  To reinforce the foundation of America’s strength, ASP is arming the public with new analyses of American competitiveness and forging a bipartisan approach that will provide the underpinning of American strength and security for decades to come.

Energy and Climate

Climate change is real and it is caused, at least in part, by the choices we make every day about the energy we use to power our lives.  The security consequences of climate change, alone, are profound: worsening poverty, failing states, increased extremism, and the risk of conflict.  Combined with a dangerous dependence on foreign sources of oil, climate and energy constitute defining risks to America’s national security.  Also, the United States faces a series of choices that will determine how its economy is powered to meet the needs of the 21st Century. Because of the long time-horizon required for energy investment, the choices America’s leaders make over the next 5-10 years will determine America’s course for the next 40.   ASP is working to educate the public about these risks and opportunities. We are working to forge a new bipartisan consensus among America’s leaders on the risks of climate change and how to rebuild and expand our energy system to meet the needs of the 21^st Century.

National Security Strategy

We live in a time when the threats to our security are as complex and diverse as terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, climate change, failing states and economic decline. Many of these national challenges will require responses that go beyond military might and utilize all the tools at our disposal. The American Security Project is leading the development of a new national security vision and strategy that will create a New American Arsenal for the twenty-first century that is responsive to the challenges and opportunities we face as a country.

Terrorism

Since September 11, 2001, U.S. counter-terrorism policy has focused largely on the worldwide threat posed by Islamist extremism to America. Through its continuing research, events, and publications, the American Security Project provides critical assessments of this fight against extremism, examining whether or not progress is being made, and prescribing new solutions that keep us safe.

Nuclear Security

Since President Eisenhower first proposed an Open Skies Treaty with the Soviet Union, successive American presidents have sought security in mutually binding, verified agreements to reduce the dangers posed by nuclear weapons. ASP seeks to build upon that legacy and educate the public about the leadership needed to build a new international consensus for nuclear security.