Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy

The Brzezinski Institute examines the unique interaction of history, geography, and strategy, with a goal of developing policy-relevant analysis and recommendations

The mission of the Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy is to examine the unique interaction of history, geography, and strategy, with a goal of developing policy-relevant analysis and recommendations. Geostrategy incorporates both geopolitics and historically rooted national impulses in the formulation of prescriptive long-term geostrategies. The Institute seeks to further the study of geostrategy and to inspire a new generation of strategic policy thinkers in the United States and abroad.

Institute Projects

The Brzezinski Institute supports projects focusing on geostrategy, with the goal of developing policy-relevant analysis and recommendations. The choice of the term geostrategy is deliberate. Reaching beyond traditional geopolitics, geostrategy includes the cumulative role of history, of the effects of global political awakening, and of the dramatic transformation in the nature of warfare in the shaping of comprehensive national security policy.

All Brzezinski Institute on Geostrategy Content

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Combating State Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention

The CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention examines U.S. efforts to counter the detention of Americans abroad and proposes new policy tools to strengthen deterrence, improve international coordination, and bring Americans home.

Report by Jon B. Alterman and Jason Rezaian — June 4, 2025

Scenarios That Could Define 2035

This scenario series from the CSIS Brzezinski Chair explores possible futures for 2035—not to predict outcomes, but to prepare for them. With expert comments, the scenarios examine key drivers, second-order effects, and warning signs to inform strategic foresight.

Digital Report by Jon B. Alterman — May 14, 2025

U.S. Global Leadership Falters

A new scenario by Jon B. Alterman, with comments from leading experts, explores what a U.S. retreat from global leadership could look like—examining the political, economic, and strategic fallout of a diminished role and how it might reshape global power dynamics.

Digital Report by Jon B. Alterman — May 14, 2025

Trust Fails

A new scenario by Jon B. Alterman, with comments from leading experts, explores how technology has both built and broken trust—examining how disinformation, cyber threats, and digital decay could fracture societies, disrupt trade, and weaken global cooperation.

Digital Report by Jon B. Alterman — May 14, 2025

China Stalls

A new scenario by Jon B. Alterman, with comments from leading experts, explores the challenges facing China’s economy and considers how a sustained slowdown could sap Beijing’s global influence and reshape the international order.

Digital Report by Jon B. Alterman — May 14, 2025

Audio Briefs

Accidental Empire

An audio version of “Accidental Empire,” a new commentary by CSIS's Jon B. Alterman. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — February 25, 2025

Audio Briefs

Accidental Empire

In a time of fewer multilateral tools and fewer American allies, President Donald Trump’s proposal to seek mineral rights in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine will likely mean a long-term increase in U.S. troops to protect these investments.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — February 24, 2025

Babel: Translating the Middle East

U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part One

Jon takes a closer look at how the United States responded to the 9/11 attacks by deepening its involvement in the Middle East, how its role in the region has changed, and how some people think it needs to change a lot more. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — March 8, 2022

CSIS Babel