Sustainable Security

Sustainable security redefines how we think about national security in today's shifting, globalized world. Instead of focusing solely on traditional threats, we also need to help spur greater prosperity, encourage effective international development, and work to protect innocent civilians. Such an approach is good for us and good for others. In short, sustainable security is thinking long term about America and the world.
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International Justice on Trial? Report
Slobodan Milošević in presidential campaign in Krusevac, Montenegro, December 17, 1992. (Getty/Chip HIRES/Gamma-Rapho)

International Justice on Trial?

International justice is at a critical crossroads, offering a perfect moment to examine its key accomplishments, shortcomings, and challenges moving forward.

Carolyn Kenney, John Norris

How Climate Change and Water and Food Insecurity Drive Instability Report
A young boy goes home with a bag full of grain he picked from a truck that overturned, in the forest in Machinga, about 200 kilometers northeast of Blantyre, Malawi, May 24, 2016. (AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

How Climate Change and Water and Food Insecurity Drive Instability

Climate change poses serious security risks, particularly as it affects water and food security in fragile states, and ignoring these risks will take an increasing toll on human lives and livelihoods, economic prosperity, and peace and security around the world.

Carolyn Kenney

Why You Should Care About Donald Trump’s Conflicts of Interest Video

Why You Should Care About Donald Trump’s Conflicts of Interest

Senior Fellow John Norris discusses the possible ramifications of President Trump's global conflicts of interest.

John Norris, Hayden Duncan, Andrew Satter

Climate Change, Water Security, and U.S. National Security Report

Climate Change, Water Security, and U.S. National Security

The United States must continue to address the global challenges presented by climate change, such as water scarcity, in order to mitigate and prevent the threats they pose to national and international security.

Carolyn Kenney

Trump’s Siege on International Development Article
The headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development is seen in Washington, D.C., on April 1, 2014. (AP/J. David Ake)

Trump’s Siege on International Development

In the wake of recent Trump administration proposals, the international development community is fighting for the future of programs that save millions of lives and make America more secure and prosperous.

John Norris

A Better Approach to Fragile States Report
A migrant child jumps over a puddle in Sid, Serbia, on January 11, 2016. (AP/Darko Vojinovic)

A Better Approach to Fragile States

CAP argues for a new strategy to shrink the number of fragile states by creating a new mechanism called Inclusion, Growth, and Peace Compacts.

John Norris

A Critical Year for Humanitarianism Report
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses delegates in London during the donor conference, February 2016. (AP/Dan Kitwood)

A Critical Year for Humanitarianism

The international community is making a major push in 2016 to bring reforms to a global humanitarian system stretched close to the breaking point.

John Norris, Carolyn Kenney

Leave No One Behind Report
A young boy flies a kite on a garbage heap in Mumbai, India. (AP/Rafiq Maqbool)

Leave No One Behind

Leave No One Behind is the headline of the Sustainable Development Goals, but without further definition and a plan to achieve this objective, it will be nothing more than soaring rhetoric.

Molly Elgin-Cossart

Fighting Corruption One Goal at a Time Report
The new global development agenda pledges to curb corruption and illicit financial flows. The United States can help make sure this commitment becomes more than just words. (iStock)

Fighting Corruption One Goal at a Time

The new global development agenda pledges to curb corruption and illicit financial flows. The United States can help make sure this commitment becomes more than just words.

Molly Elgin-Cossart, Alex Zerden

Fragile Progress Report
A Nepalese girl gets ready for school as she stands on the entrance to her house in Khokana, on the outskirts of Katmandu, Nepal, in August 2012. (AP/Niranjan Shrestha)

Fragile Progress

The risk that impoverished populations in fragile and conflict-affected states will be left behind by the United Nations' ambitious development agenda is increasing as member states negotiate the post-2015 development agenda, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals.

John Norris, Casey Dunning, Annie Malknecht

Delivering Development After 2015 Report
Large posters of late Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi are displayed on one of the streets in Addis Ababa. (AP/Elias Asmare)

Delivering Development After 2015

The conversation on the post-2015 development agenda is shifting from defining goals to financing and implementation, providing both opportunities and challenges as financing negotiations culminate in July 2015.

Molly Elgin-Cossart

What the Millennium Development Goals Have Accomplished Article
A laborer works on a ferry being refurbished at a dockyard in Keraniganj, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP/A.M. Ahad)

What the Millennium Development Goals Have Accomplished

With just 500 days left before the Millennium Development Goals expire, it is important to acknowledge all that they have spurred the world to achieve.

Annie Malknecht

Africa 2.0: Looking to the Future Article
Secretary of State John Kerry meets with African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, Tuesday, August 5. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Africa 2.0: Looking to the Future

The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, focused on investment in the next generation, sets the stage for sustained partnership, and a commitment to regularizing the U.S.-Africa dialogue can help ensure its success.

Molly Elgin-Cossart

What to Watch at the BRICS Summit in Brazil Article
From left, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, India's former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, China's President Xi Jinping, and South African President Jacob Zuma pose for a photo after a BRICS leaders' meeting at the September 2013 G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. (AP/Sergei Karpukhin)

What to Watch at the BRICS Summit in Brazil

The meeting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa this week highlights the potentially positive role the group could play in revitalizing the global system of partnerships and alliances to tackle the challenges of the 21st century.

Molly Elgin-Cossart

Applying Universal Goals to the United States Report
People buy vegetables at a market in Hyderabad, India, Saturday, March 15, 2014. (AP/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Applying Universal Goals to the United States

One of the most innovative elements of the emerging post-2015 global development agenda is a focus on universality. What would that mean in the United States?

John Norris, Molly Elgin-Cossart, Casey Dunning

The Case for Regional Compacts Report

The Case for Regional Compacts

As the Millennium Challenge Corporation approaches its 10-year anniversary, it must explore and implement new aid approaches to stay on the cutting edge of international development best practices. Embracing regional compacts and regional threshold programs would allow the MCC to increase its number of beneficiaries and the sustained impact of its work at little to no additional cost.

Paul Applegarth, Casey Dunning, John Norris

Is Local Spending Better? Report
A U.S. Marine rests against palates of USAID supplies bound for cyclone-devastated Myanmar at the Utapao Air Force base near the southern city of Rayong, Thailand, Wednesday, May 14, 2008. (AP/Wally Santana)

Is Local Spending Better?

By better defining the rationale behind procurement reform, increasing transparency, and using current mechanisms to expand its partner base, USAID can greatly increase its partnerships with local institutions while also building support for this critical reform within the U.S. development community.

Casey Dunning

Tackling Tax Havens Article
G-8 leaders from left, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama, and French President Francois Hollande attend a working session during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. (AP/Jewel Samad, Pool)

Tackling Tax Havens

Wholesale tax evasion, particularly in the developing world, can have devastating effects.

Akinyi Ochieng

Atrocities Prevention Board Report
A skull lies near the bottom of a recently excavated mass grave at the site of the 1994 Nyamata, Rwanda, Roman Catholic Church massacre, Wednesday, August 6, 1997. (AP/Brennan Linsley)

Atrocities Prevention Board

With the Atrocities Prevention Board having just completed its first anniversary, it's time to take a look at its accomplishments, challenges, and potential for growth.

John Norris, Annie Malknecht

John Podesta on the U.N. Post-2015 Development Agenda Video

John Podesta on the U.N. Post-2015 Development Agenda

In this video, Center for American Progress Chair John Podesta, who served on the U.N. High-Level Panel, discusses the panel's recommendations to eradicate poverty and transform world economies through sustainable development.

John Podesta

Sustainable Security Project and the Post-2015 Development Agenda Article

Sustainable Security Project and the Post-2015 Development Agenda

The Sustainable Security and Peacebuilding Initiative is broadly engaging with many actors regarding the work of the U.N. High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and conducting targeted research and analysis to help advance progress in creating a more prosperous, connected, and resilient world.

The Turning Point in Spending for Combating HIV/AIDS Article
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talks with South Africa's Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi after attending a President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, Transition Signing, Wednesday, August 8, 2012, at the Delft South Clinic in Delft South, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Turning Point in Spending for Combating HIV/AIDS

Developing countries are now outspending international investments in combating HIV/AIDS, and the United States should do more to bolster this encouraging trend.

Casey Dunning, John Norris

Engagement Amid Austerity Report
America’s investments in diplomacy, development, and international trade  are extremely valuable and any cuts should not undermine our strategic  priorities or values. (AP/ B.K. Bangash)

Engagement Amid Austerity

John Norris and Connie Veillette offer a bipartisan report trying to determine how we can make the most efficient and effective use of scarce resources, reform our foreign affairs institutions, and defend our core national interests amid major budget uncertainty.

John Norris, Connie Veillette

It All Starts with Training Report
Conflict prevention training for our foreign affairs personnel would better serve our foreign affairs agencies, and it would make it so our military personnel are less likely over time to be deployed in direct conflict. That will save both lives and treasure in the long run. (AP/Marko Drobnjakovic)

It All Starts with Training

John Norris, Abigail Long, Sarah Margon, and David Abramowitz explain why the United States should invest more in conflict prevention training.

John Norris, Abigail Long, Sarah Margon, 1 More Sarah Margon

Unintended Roadblocks Report
People walk through the Afghan enclave of Katchi Abadi near Islamabad, Pakistan. One aid group working in the region only accepts small U.S. government grants instead of larger, multiyear ones because doing so means they can avert the need to collect personnel information, which can undermine relationships with local communities. These programs, however, can have less of an impact because they reach less people and run for a shorter time period. (AP/Laura Rauch)

Unintended Roadblocks

Report from Sarah Margon identifies the legislative and policy hurdles that make it difficult for aid groups to do their jobs and how these can be dealt with.

Sarah Margon

Twenty Years of Collapse and Counting Report
Somali's demonstrate against high food prices earlier this year in the capital Mogadishu. Troops opened fire and killed at least two people among tens of thousands of people rioting. (AP/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)

Twenty Years of Collapse and Counting

John Norris and Bronwyn Bruton look at the case of Somalia to explore the high cost crisis response rather than prevention.

John Norris, Bronwyn Bruton

The Limits of U.S. Assistance to Pakistan Report
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad, Friday, Oct. 21, 2011. (AP/ Kevin Lamarque)

The Limits of U.S. Assistance to Pakistan

Colin Cookman, Brian Katulis, Sarah Margon, and Caroline Wadhams look at ways to streamline aid to Pakistan while making it more effective.

Colin Cookman, Brian Katulis, Sarah Margon, 1 More Caroline Wadhams

International War Crimes and Justice Interactive

International War Crimes and Justice

A slideshow from John Norris and Sarah Margon shows how many senior war criminals have been held accountable for their actions.

John Norris, Sarah Margon

After Turkey’s June Elections Report

After Turkey’s June Elections

Michael Werz, Caroline Wadhams, Matthew Duss, and Sarah Margon on what Turkey's June elections mean for for U.S. foreign policy in the region.

Michael Werz, Caroline Wadhams, Matthew Duss, 1 More Sarah Margon

Afghan Aid Under the Microscope Article
Former President George W. Bush, left, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrive for a joint press conference after their meetings, Monday, August 6, 2007, at Camp David, Maryland. Bush was eager to give Karzai a pass for much of his misbehavior because he viewed him as a key strategic ally, but the weakness and rot of many Afghan institutions have made it all that much harder to achieve both our development and security objectives. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Afghan Aid Under the Microscope

Spending all the development funds in the world will not substitute for an actual functioning Afghan government, writes John Norris.

John Norris

The Time to Stop Death in Uganda Is Now! Article
The so-called “Kill the Gays” bill, proposed by legislator David Bahati,  may come to a vote tomorrow. Every indication is that it will pass and  move to President Yoweri Museveni, above, for his signature. (AP/Orlin Wagner)

The Time to Stop Death in Uganda Is Now!

The Ugandan Parliament is set to vote this week on an extreme bill that targets gays and lesbians for imprisonment and even death. Bishop Gene Robinson and Andre Banks explain what you can do to help stop it.

Bishop Gene Robinson, Andre Banks

Another Way to Fight Terrorism Article
President Barack Obama speaks about the capture and killing of Osama bin  Laden on May 2, 2011. The Obama administration has an important opportunity to shift its counterterrorism policy toward a comprehensive approach that boldly recalibrates and adapts to a dramatically changed landscape. (AP/Charles Dharapak)

Another Way to Fight Terrorism

Bin Laden’s death and the Middle East uprisings present the Obama administration with an opportunity to shift to a more comprehensive counterterrorism strategy that recognizes a changing landscape, writes Sarah Margon.

Sarah Margon

Death by a Thousand (Small) Cuts Article
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has noted that cuts to our civilian agencies, such as the State Department, will have a devastating impact on our national security. Chipping away at foreign affairs and assistance funding cripples our ability to dynamically respond to today’s global challenges. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Death by a Thousand (Small) Cuts

The budget deal for the rest of the fiscal year cuts key foreign affairs and assistance funding we need to respond to the changing threats across the globe that require more than military might, says Sarah Margon.

Sarah Margon

The U.S. Global Development Council Report
Advisory boards and councils can effectively steer the work of  government in constructive ways, or they can serve as a delaying tactic  to feign political concern in the absence of meaningful action. (iStockphoto)

The U.S. Global Development Council

Noam Unger and John Norris spell out some of the key considerations that should be addressed as the U.S. Global Development Council moves from concept to reality.

Noam Unger, John Norris

Can America Rise to the Occasion in the Middle East? Article
Antigovernment protesters shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 27, 2011. (AP/Muhammed Muheisen)

Can America Rise to the Occasion in the Middle East?

John Norris explains what our leaders in Washington need to do to help democracy and stability prevail in the Middle East.

John Norris

Reading the Tea Leaves in Libya Article
Libya's Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa reads a statement declaring a ceasefire on military operations to foreign journalists at a hotel in in Tripoli on March 18, 2011. The statement came shortly after a UN Security Council Resolution that allows the broad use of force to protect civilians on the ground in Libya. (AP/Jerome Delay)

Reading the Tea Leaves in Libya

John Norris responds to the recent UN Security Council resolution authorizing use of force in Libya and suggests how the international community should proceed.

John Norris

Learning from the Post-Soviet Era Article
Pro-Qaddafi fighters raise their fists to indicate victory near Ras Lanouf, 380 miles southeast of the capital Tripoli in Libya on March 12, 2011. Western diplomats, aid agencies, and legislatures are still prone to the same types of approaches—both good and bad—that they employed in the early 1990s. They are already replicating some of these missteps in the Middle East. (AP/Ben Curtis)

Learning from the Post-Soviet Era

There are useful lessons from the fall of the Berlin Wall that apply in the Middle East today, observes John Norris. But they apply more to us than the Middle East.

John Norris

Ivory Coast Teeters on the Brink Article
A boy gestures in front of a protest fire set by local youth shortly before security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo opened fire on civilians in the Treichville neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on March 8, 2011. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)

Ivory Coast Teeters on the Brink

A political stalemate in the Ivory Coast could quickly turn to civil war, says Sarah Margon. That would be disastrous for the region and bad for the United States.

Sarah Margon

Rushing Carefully in Libya Article
A defected Libyan soldier sits with his weapons on the outskirts of the eastern town of Brega, Libya, on March 4, 2011. (AP/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Rushing Carefully in Libya

John Norris urges the Obama administration to proceed with caution as it’s pressed to intervene in Libya.

John Norris

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