This report addresses critical infrastructure not only as a network of facilities, but as the foundation on which a nation's prosperity and stability rest. We analyse how assets such as transport, energy and communications act as engines of socio-economic development; for example, it is estimated that public investment of 1% of GDP in infrastructure can significantly raise real GDP in the medium term, while a deficit in this area imposes multi-million-dollar productivity costs. However, most of these critical facilities —around 85% in the United States— belong to the private sector, which makes public-private collaboration an indispensable national security strategy. The document sets out the critical sectoral risks in energy, finance and health, and highlights how proactive investment in resilience can generate measurable social and economic returns in terms of losses avoided in the face of disasters or attacks. Explore this technical analysis to understand the relationship between infrastructure investment and a nation's strategic response capacity in the face of future crises.
Report