Development & Sustainability

The geopolitical and socioeconomic challenges of the twenty-first century are unlike any the United States has seen before. CSIS experts provide thoughtful analysis on the U.S. innovation ecosystem and explore methods for sustaining American technological competitiveness.

Climate Strain and the Reordering of Global Food Stability

December 7, 2025

From Ore to Influence: Building Allied Rare Earth Processing Hubs to Break China’s Midstream Grip

December 7, 2025

A Global Energy Order in Transition: Why Renewables Accelerate Even as the United States Reverses Course

December 6, 2025

How Immigration Shapes America’s Workforce and Growth in an Era of Crackdowns

December 6, 2025

The Spatial Roots of Global Economic Uncertainty

Global economic uncertainty is increasingly shaped by geography. The concentration of resources, the fragility of key trade corridors, the pressures of climate exposure, and widening regional disparities are now central forces in global risk. This analysis explains how these geographic dynamics are reshaping economic stability and altering the strategic landscape.

The Fifth Industrial Front and the Contest for Power and Work

Climate Politics in the Age of Complex States

The Fifth Industrial Front and the Contest for Power and Work

The next industrial revolution is not just about smarter factories but about geopolitics and social order. This essay argues that the shift from...

November 25, 2025

Climate Politics in the Age of Complex States

Rising temperatures are exposing not only a failure of ambition but a failure of governance. This essay argues that climate policy is a...

November 25, 2025

From Chokepoint to Network in the Geopolitics of Rare Earths and US-China Rivalry

Rare earths have turned from obscure inputs into one of the sharpest tools in US-China competition. China still dominates processing and magnet production,...

November 25, 2025

Rare Earths and the Hard Edge of Interdependence

China’s grip on rare earth processing has turned obscure minerals into one of the sharpest tools in its strategic contest with the United...

November 25, 2025

How circular economy is colliding with global trade and climate politics

Circular economy is no longer a recycling sideshow. Trade in scrap metals, plastics and used components is turning into a strategic arena where...

November 25, 2025

Europe’s circular economy agenda as international strategy

Circular economy has moved from technical jargon to a lever of power. The EU now uses rules on design, repair, waste and materials...

November 25, 2025

Fragile Integration in Syria’s Northeast

The October 2025 deal folding the SDF into Syria’s national army eases an immediate security problem for Damascus, Ankara and Washington, but leaves...

November 23, 2025

Navigating a New Energy Investment Landscape

Global energy is shifting from a cheap-capital, Paris-era boom in renewables to a harder, more fragmented investment landscape where security, cost and competitiveness...

November 23, 2025

Gaza Between International Control and Palestinian Sovereignty

Washington is asking the UN Security Council to bless a sweeping new order for Gaza built around an international “Board of Peace” and...

November 23, 2025

Latin America’s Conditional Embrace of Washington

Latin America is leaning toward Washington for hard headed reasons: access to capital, technology and the U.S. market as Chinese finance cools and...

November 23, 2025