Wachenheim Program on Peace and Security

Wachenheim Program on Peace and Security is sponsored by Council on Foreign Relations. Supports research and initiatives focused on preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflicts, promoting conditions for just and secure peace, with a global perspective.

Wachenheim Center on Peace and Security | Council on Foreign Relations As the number, magnitude, and complexity of armed conflicts grow around the world, the means to address them remain rooted in past practices and challenged multilateral institutions.

The Wachenheim Center for Peace and Security accomplishes its mission by producing forward-looking assessments and in-depth policy analysis, and by convening regular consultations with representatives of leading international institutions, civil society groups, corporations, and other research organizations. This center is made possible by the generous support of the Sue & Edgar Wachenheim Foundation .

The Global Conflict Tracker is an interactive guide to ongoing conflicts around the world of concern to the United States. Visit the Global Conflict Tracker Securing Ukraine’s Future CFR’s Special Initiative provides timely, informed analysis and practical policy recommendations for U.S. policymakers and the public.

Ensuring that Ukraine is able to resist and survive Russia’s full-scale invasion such that peace and security is restored to Europe will thus remain a policy priority for the United States.

Preventive Priorities Survey The annual Preventive Priorities Survey draws upon the informed judgments of government officials, foreign policy experts, and academics to identify thirty contingencies requiring U.S. attention over the next twelve months. Preventive Priorities Surveys are made possible by a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Conflicts to Watch in 2026 report After Khamenei: Planning for Iran’s Leadership Transition Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program, recommends that the United States reconsider its assumptions around eventual leadership change in Tehran, revive regime accountability efforts, prepare for opportunistic escalation by proxy groups, and ready itself for renewed nuclear diplomacy.

report Preventing Renewed Conflict in Colombia CFR International Affairs Fellow in National Security Roxanna Vigil argues that the United States should engage early with Colombia’s next administration to signal support for full implementation of the 2016 Peace Accords and provide targeted assistance.

report The Next Taiwan Crisis Won’t Be Like the Last Assumptions about how a potential conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan would unfold should urgently be revisited. Such a war, far from being insulated, would likely draw in additional powers, expand geographically, and escalate vertically. report Optimal Deterrence The United States faces growing dangers of nuclear escalation, a new arms race, and proliferation.

This report recommends an improved strategy for “optimal deterrence” and a path to rebuilding relationships with allies without allowing them to dictate U.S. force requirements. General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Wachenheim Center for Peace and Security Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies Fellow for Latin America Studies Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies Henry A.

Kissinger Distinguished Fellow Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy and Director of the Future of American Strategy Initiative Senior Vice President of Studies and Maurice R.

Greenberg Chair Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow for Africa Studies George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies Where Are U.S. Military Forces Deployed in Europe? By Molly Carlough, Benjamin Harris and Abi McGowan Ukraine's Critical Minerals: Aligning Capital, Security, and Reconstruction Securing Ukraine’s Future: Adapting to New Realities After Four Years of War By Heidi E.

Crebo-Rediker, Liana Fix, Thomas Graham, Paul B. Stares, Sam Vigersky and Benjamin Harris Securing Ukraine’s Future in Europe: Ukraine's Defense Industrial Base—An Anchor for Economic Renewal and European Security By Heidi E.

Crebo-Rediker Beyond Conventional Aid: Institutionalizing Public-Private Partnership in Ukraine’s Humanitarian Response Preparing for the Day After in Europe Defending Europe if Russia Steps Out of the Gray Zone By Liana Fix and Benjamin Harris Right-Sizing the Russian Threat Behind Trump’s Peace Efforts: A Strategic Focus on Critical Minerals By Abi McGowan and Mariel Ferragamo How North Korea Has Bolstered Russia’s War in Ukraine By Molly Carlough and James Kennedy How to Use Russia’s Frozen Assets How a Ceasefire Agreement Can Bolster Ukraine’s Security—and NATO’s, Too The Carrot-Stick Approach to Ending the War in Ukraine The Limits of Putin’s Ambitions How to End the Russia-Ukraine War Weathering the Storm: The Hague Summit and the Future of NATO By Liana Fix and Rebecca Lissner The Senate’s New Ukraine Bill Will Not Work—But Here Is How to Fix It CFR Receives Major Grant to Launch Wachenheim Program on Peace and Security Report Rebuilding Ukraine By Charles Becker, Peter Devine, Aaron Lam, Michelle Schultze and Eva Spektorov Report Ukraine, NATO, and War Termination By Eric Ciaramella and Eric Green A Series of New CFR Reports Outline How to End the War in Ukraine Report Defending Ukraine in the Absence of NATO Security Guarantees By Paul B.

Stares and Michael O'Hanlon The Art of a Good Deal: Ukraine’s Strategic Economic Opportunity for the United States By Heidi E. Crebo-Rediker Partners in Peacemaking: How the United States and Europe Can End the War in Ukraine