Recent presidential administrations—representing both parties—have argued in their national security strategies that the key challenge before the United States is that of countering authoritarian regimes that seek to undermine democracies and rewrite the rules of the world order to be more favorable to dictatorial governments. This brief lays an analytic foundation for considering gender analyses, and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) programs, as strategic enablers for accomplishing key Department of Defense (DoD) priorities. In order to do so, it first explores the gendered dimensions of authoritarianism and deterrence and then discerns a number of specific ways that WPS programs can be leveraged to give the DoD strategic advantages in critical theaters. CSIS stress-tested these concepts through a tabletop exercise designed to illuminate the conditions under which planners might assess that a gender-informed strategic approach would generate meaningful advantage for the United States. The brief concludes with recommendations for how the DoD might generate enterprise-wide momentum toward meaningfully leveraging WPS tools and incorporating gender perspectives in key processes.