Fire from the Gods: Safely Promoting Nuclear Energy

Publication: Aspen Strategy Group

December 2022

Link to Article: Here

Abstract

NATO is the primary political-military forum that brings Europe and North America together daily. Since 1991, NATO has evolved from a sixteen-nation defensive alliance designed to quell Soviet aggression into a dynamic thirty two-nation security provider. As NATO moves deeper into the twenty-first century, the alliance must develop an energy portfolio resilient to violations of the rules-based international order, whether that violation is an invasion of a non-NATO country or noncompliance in international forums such as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. The key to energy diversity will be decoupling nuclear weapons policy from nuclear energy development. The lack of viable energy alternatives to Russian fossil fuels puts NATO in the conundrum of choosing between external security aims and internal energy concerns.

Strengthening Black Representation in National Security

Publication: Aspen Strategy Group

December 2022

Link to Article: Here

Abstract

In a new analysis based on data from the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, we estimate that the United States underproduces 1,500 Black national security professionals from the country’s colleges and universities yearly. A diverse national security workforce is a national security imperative. Despite heightened efforts to address diversity in national security, gaps in attraction, retention, and promotion remain pronounced. As each of the four co-authors reflects on our journeys thus far, it is striking that each is a beneficiary of a program designed to recruit and cultivate diverse leaders. Looking forward, the four co-authors express their concern that progress in diversifying the national security workforce is stalling and make multiple recommendations to turn the United States' greatest potential comparative advantage, its diversity, into positive kinetic use.

To Protect the Pledge - NATO Should Tweak Its Consensus Decision Making Process

Publication: Columbia SIPA Journal of International Affairs

November 2022

Link to Article: Here

Abstract

A large part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defeating the Soviet Union was the implementation and execution of The Pledge, a commitment to counter the spread of communism via a security community of transatlantic liberal democracies. Developed by NATO’s founders, The Pledge is a pact to defend one another, guarantee its members’ peaceful exchanges, and provide collective security. The Pledge has stood as NATO’s promise of mutual political and military support for its members through formal and informal means. However, the increasing complexity of today’s geopolitical environment highlights that NATO’s consensus rule limits The Pledge’s ability to provide consistent and meaningful support to allies. This article proposes a Secretary General Discretionary Tool (SGDT), which would grant the Secretary General two broad authorities: 1) the ability to direct the preparation of important contingency operations; and 2) the ability to shorten the committee process for certain high-priority decisions. The SGDT would allow ten or more countries to collaborate while not forcing the entire alliance to participate politically or militarily if their constituents do not approve. As a result, the framework provides clear guidelines for NATO and limits infighting on the legitimacy of sub-regional security issues.

Extending NATO Membership to Sweden and Finland Enhances the European Security Community

Publication: The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs

September 2022

Link to Article: Here

Abstract

Throughout its 73-year history, NATO has operated as a collection of countries with shared values that manage a military alliance through consensus and allows each Ally to contribute to an action plan based on its domestic political constraints. As NATO enters a new chapter in 2022, current geopolitical circumstances encourage Allies to accept Sweden’s and Finland’s bids to join NATO to fortify European security, communicate a clear red-line to Russia, and quell any potential internal conflicts should Russian aggression escalate beyond Ukraine.