Reports & Papers

This paper focuses on the market and geopolitical implications of renewable hydrogen adoption at scale in the European Union (EU). The authors analyze long-term strategies based on three reference scenarios in which the EU prioritizes a different strategic variable: energy independence, cost (optimization), or energy security. Developing competitive and secure hydrogen markets will require close coordination between policy, technology, capital, and society—and for EU countries to unite behind a shared long-term vision.

The world has grown more dangerous but also less open to arms control measures that could limit some of the dangers. What can be done? Steven E. Miller offers a tour de force overview of both dismal and hopeful trends within arms control over the past decades, in this first paper of a new HCSS series on Arms Control.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, and Congress have begun considering the viability of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a legal tender national digital currency for consumer use. The national security implications of CBDCs are not yet central considerations for U.S. policymakers, but they should be.

India plays a critical role in global climate and energy policy. Although India is only responsible for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, it has a large population and considerable potential for rapid economic growth. This paper explores how India’s states can best address climate change, the relative roles of state and Union governments, and how relationships between states and New Delhi can constrain or accelerate climate action.

The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), established in in the aftermath of World War II, play a crucial role in conflict resolution throughout the world. As of November 2021, the UN maintained 12 active peacekeeping missions staffed by over 80,000 military, police, and civilian personnel from over 100 countries. UNPKO’s annual budget in 2020-21 was US$6.58 billion. This paper looks at the operational effectiveness of those peacekeeping missions and how they could be improved. Its focus is not on high level peacekeeping strategy. Rather it identifies basic operational reforms that could be readily implemented and that would result in better peacekeeping outcomes at lower cost.

Under the guidance of its self-defence nuclear strategy, China will continue to modernise its nuclear force in order to maintain a reliable second-strike retaliatory capability. China’s nuclear weapon modernisation has been responsive to the advances of military capabilities of other countries, particularly the US. As Hu Side emphasised, “The sole purpose for China to maintain a limited nuclear counterattack force is to deter a potential nuclear strike. However, the development of US missile defense and the long-rang strike capability with high accuracy to target mobile missiles is in practice to decrease the effectiveness of Chinese nuclear deterrence. Thus, it surely leads to Chinese attention."

The era of U.S. military primacy is over: dead, buried, and gone— except in the minds of some political leaders and policy analysts who have not examined the hard facts.

To document what has actually happened in the competition between China and the U.S. in the past twenty years, Professor Graham Allison has directed a major study titled “The Great Rivalry: China vs. the U.S. in the 21st Century.” Originally prepared as part of a package of transition memos for the new administration after the November 2020 election, these reports were provided to those leading the Biden and Trump administrations’ strategic reviews.

To take stock of the state of the technology race, this report examines the progress made by the U.S. and China in each key emerging technology over the past 20 years.

This paper provides an overview on the main impacts of biofuels production on water resources within the United States, with an emphasis on the corn-based ethanol market and the agricultural stage. The following issues are examined:

• the relationship between biofuel production and water availability;
• trends and policy options for future biofuel production and the tradeoffs for water scarcity;
• technological changes in transportation fleet, with consequential effects on biofuels demand and water resources;
• considerations for policy makers who seek to reduce the future impact of biofuels on water sustainability.