Reimagining the US-China Relationship: Alternatives to Neoliberal US Trade Policy (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Griffin Grubb, Spring 2023 Marcellus Policy Fellow The U.S. – China trade war is the most significant economic conflict in recent memory. The outcome will determine the trajectory of American leadership and its role in the rest of the 21st century, as well as the consequences for the global economy. Under the Trump Administration, […]

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Why Are the Baltic States Reckless Drivers in NATO? (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Robert Clarke, Spring 2023 Marcellus Policy Fellow The war in Ukraine has startled much of Europe, but none more so than those states closest to Russia’s border. Finland has joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), eschewing decades of neutrality – a model that has commonly been referred to as “Finlandization,” after its most […]

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Strategic Competition and Irregular Warfare in Africa: Lessons from the Cold War (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Peter Burns, Spring 2023 Marcellus Policy Fellow The 21st century will be the African century. The continent’s population is on track to exceed 2.5 billion by 2050. The effort required by governments, economies, and institutions to effectively manage this level of growth will be demanding given the varied challenges Africa faces. Political stability, internal […]

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Stopping the Security Spiral: The Importance of U.S. Disengagement in South Korea (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Hunter Slingbaum, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow As of 2021, the United States had roughly 28,500 troops actively deployed in South Korea and 55,000 troops in Japan, both nations that have seen significant economic success and relative military peace over the last several decades. Unlike Japan, however, South Korea has a nuclear adversary and […]

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Winning the South: How the United States Can Win Back Latin America (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Scarlett Kennedy, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow Amid increasing tensions between the United States and Iran, it is crucial to have an effective plan in place for protecting the U.S. homeland from Iranian violence. This violence significantly decreased following the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but has reignited since the agreement’s collapse, constructing […]

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Building Capacity or Undermining Stability? Reconsidering US Security Sector Assistance in Fragile States (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Keenan Ashbrook, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow In the post-9/11 era, U.S. foreign policy has placed an increasingly high level of emphasis on Department of Defense (DoD)-led security sector assistance (SSA) in fragile states. This strategic shift has been motivated by the theory that “power vacuums” and instability serve as breeding grounds for hostile […]

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Securing the Insecure: Rethinking US-Iraq Relations (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Simeone Miller, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow U.S. security policy in Iraq has failed. It is a policy that has been defined by an inflated threat perception. While it was designed to prevent the further proliferation of Salafi-Jihadists in the country, it has done more to support their emergence and led to further local […]

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Containment 2022: Rallying the Asia-Pacific Against Chinese Aggression (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By David Winter, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow The balance of power has shifted away from the favor of the United States, but the attitude of the American foreign policy elite has not reflected this reality. The Asia-Pacific region is home to multiple U.S. partners, valuable economic traffic, and to a rising near-peer competitor, the […]

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With Friends Like These: How the United States Can Foster the European Union’s Strategic Autonomy (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Juan Garcia-Nieto, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow The partnership between the United States and the European Union (EU) is largely a successful one. Europe, once a continent ravaged by wars, achieved an unprecedented level of political and economic integration. However, the transatlantic relationship rests on a deeply flawed assumption: that the United States should […]

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The Great Balancing Act: U.S. Engagement in Central Asia (Marcellus Policy Analysis)

By Alex Little, Fall 2022 Marcellus Policy Fellow Central Asia is a diverse region with a critically important central geography, a plethora of natural resources, and rapidly developing industries such as energy production. Central Asia comprises Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, all of which are former Soviet republics. Given their Soviet past, Central Asia […]

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