The Project

America faces an extremely dangerous world. The international security environment is deteriorating rapidly. America cannot protect its way of life against continuous physical, economic, cyber, and other attacks and threats by standing on the defensive along our coasts and borders.

The American Enterprise Institute created the Critical Threats Project in 2009 with this danger in mind. Critical Threats’ objective is to inform and educate policymakers, the intelligence and military communities, and all interested citizens who need to understand the nuance and scale of threats to America’s security. The project conducts intelligence analysis on unclassified information to produce continuous assessments of threats to the U.S. and our allies. It develops these assessments into concrete plans for action using best-practices drawn from the U.S. military, intelligence community, and diplomatic corps. It provides the executive branch, Congress, the media, and the general public its assessments and recommendations on a non-partisan basis. Like AEI, Critical Threats accepts no money from the American government, or from any foreign government.

Critical Threats is directed by AEI senior fellow Frederick W. Kagan. Its two analytical teams focus on the threats posed by Iran and the Salafi-jihadi movement, especially in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, North Africa, and West Africa. 

You’ll find their latest thinking, analysis, and forecasts in the CTP briefing series—updated as relevant events unfold. 

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To subscribe to any of the following Critical Threats Project (CTP) publications via email, please sign up here:

Iran Update
CTP and the Institute for the Study of War produce updates seven days per week to inform national security policy through timely, relevant, and independent open-source analysis of the Israel- Hamas war as well as developments pertaining to Iran and its Axis of Resistance. This update covers the ongoing conflict and the political, military, and economic events and trends that affect the stability and decision-making of the Iranian regime. It also provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities abroad, such as the Houthi movement in Yemen, that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests.

 

The Africa File
The Africa File provides regular analysis and assessments of major developments regarding state and non-state actors’ activities in Africa that undermine regional stability and threaten US personnel and interests.