Center for a New American Security


The Center for a New American Security is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank established in 2007 by co-founders Michèle Flournoy and Kurt M. Campbell. It specializes in the United States' national security issues. CNAS focuses on terrorism and irregular warfare, the future of the U.S. military, the emergence of Asia as a global power center, and the national security implications of natural resource consumption. Former Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg called CNAS "an indispensable feature on the Washington landscape."
The administration of President Barack Obama hired several CNAS employees for key jobs. Founders Michèle Flournoy and Kurt Campbell formerly served as the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, respectively. In June 2009 The Washington Post suggested, "In the era of Obama... the Center for a New American Security may emerge as Washington's go-to think tank on military affairs." CNAS scholars have included John Nagl, David Kilcullen, Andrew Exum, Thomas E. Ricks, Robert D. Kaplan, and Marc Lynch. CNAS is led by CEO Victoria Nuland, who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs under Secretary of State John Kerry.
CNAS is relatively small, with around 30 employees and a budget under $6 million. Among the organizations top donors include Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Open Society Foundation, Airbus Group, The Boeing Company, Chevron Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Raytheon Company, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, the United States government, BAE Systems, BP America and Exxon Mobil Corporation.
In a speech to the United States Military Academy at West Point on February 25, 2011, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates quoted CNAS President John Nagl and Senior Advisor and Senior Fellow Lieutenant General David Barno, USA for their recommendations on improving promotion policies in the military.
CNAS experts have been quoted in numerous national media outlets, including Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The National Interest, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, C-SPAN, NBC and MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, CNN, and PBS.

Research and initiatives

CNAS has released extensive reports on terrorism, irregular warfare, and regional security challenges.
Before joining CNAS, John Nagl served as an active duty officer in both the first Gulf War and in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He then was part of the team that wrote FM 3-24, the Army’s counter-insurgency field manual that transformed the way the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were conducted. Since joining CNAS first as a Senior Fellow and then as President, Nagl has continued to delve into counterinsurgency while also publishing papers on other topics, including the need for a permanent corps of Army advisers and strategies for confronting Islamic extremism.
CNAS has also staked out terrain in studying the emergence of Asia as a center of global power, particularly with regards to China. One of the main stated goals of CNAS’s Asia-Pacific Security program is to “devise a future path for America’s engagement of China that can expand bilateral cooperation in areas of shared strategic interest and encourage increasing accountability from the Chinese regime”.
The CNAS U.S.-India Initiative is co-chaired by CNAS Board of Directors members Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State, and Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. The stated goal of the Initiative is to help advance growing bilateral ties in areas of mutual interest, including security, economics, energy and climate change, democracy and human rights. On October 27, 2010 at the White House Press Gaggle on the President's Upcoming Trip to India, the CNAS report Natural Allies: A Blueprint for the Future of U.S.-India Relations was referenced in a reporter's question to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
speaking at CNAS, November 2014
In 2010, the Center developed its Cyber Security project, which is co-chaired by Bob Kahn, the co-inventor of the TCP/IP protocols used to transmit information over the Internet; Vice Admiral John Michael McConnell, USN, former Director of National Intelligence; Joseph Nye, Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University; and Peter Schwartz, a futurist and business strategist and member of the CNAS Board of Directors. In February 2011, CNAS Vice President and Director of Studies Kristin Lord and Research Associate Travis Sharp argued in The Hill that "increased federal attention to cyber security makes good sense," but "lawmakers must ensure that the U.S. government does not spend aimlessly on cyber security."
CNAS has suggested that one way to contain future military costs would be to fold heavy army units into the National guard and reserves, but military officials have responded that the governors would rather have light units, that are better suited to their emergency needs.

Papers for the Next President Series

In May 2016, CNAS launched its Papers for the Next President series to assist the next president and his team in crafting a strong, pragmatic, and principled national security agenda. The series explores the most critical regions and topics that the next president will need to address early in his tenure and includes actionable recommendations designed to be implemented during the first few months of 2017. Since its inception, CNAS has released 12 reports on topics including, U.S.-Russia Relations, Transatlantic security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, and U.S. strategy in the Middle East.

Notable scholars and alumni