Center for a New American Security

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) 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."[3]

Center for a New American Security
AbbreviationCNAS
Motto'Bold. Innovative. Bipartisan'
Formation2007 (2007)
TypePublic policy think tank
20-8084828
Headquarters1152 15th St., Ste. 950
Location
CEO
Richard Fontaine[1]
Budget
Revenue: $8,789,410
Expenses: $7,228,402
(FYE September 2015)[2]
WebsiteCNAS.org
GEN David Petraeus at CNAS's annual conference, June 2009

The administration of President Barack Obama hired several CNAS employees for key jobs.[4] 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."[4] CNAS scholars have included John Nagl,[5] David Kilcullen, Andrew Exum, Thomas E. Ricks, Robert D. Kaplan,[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

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 (Ret.) for their recommendations on improving promotion policies in the military.[9]

CNAS experts have been quoted in numerous national media outlets, including Foreign Policy,[10] The New York Times,[11] The Washington Post,[12] The Wall Street Journal,[13] The National Interest,[14] The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,[15] C-SPAN,[16] NBC and MSNBC,[17] Fox News,[18] NPR,[19] CNN,[20] and PBS.[21]

Research and initiatives
Hillary Clinton speaks at CNAS's rollout event, June 2007

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[22] and strategies for confronting Islamic extremism.[23]

CNAS has also staked out the 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.” [24]

In 2008-2009, CNAS was an early leader in environmental security, especially on climate change and energy. The organization released a report in 2009 called "Natural Security" by Senior Fellow Sharon Burke, which looked at the national security context for natural resources, including energy, critical minerals, land, water, biodiversity, and climate change. CNAS continues to lead on such research with Elizabeth Rosenberg, a former Treasury Department official who runs the Energy, Economics, and Security Program.

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.[25] 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.[26]

Gen. Martin E. Dempsey 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 (Ret.), 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.[27] 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 cybersecurity makes good sense," but "lawmakers must ensure that the U.S. government does not spend aimlessly on cybersecurity."[28]

CNAS has suggested that one way to contain future military costs would be to fold heavy army units into the Army National Guard and Army Reserve. Still, military officials have responded that the governors would rather have light units that are better suited to their emergency needs.[29]

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[30] on topics including, U.S.-Russia Relations,[31] Transatlantic security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific,[32] and U.S. strategy in the Middle East.[33]

Notable scholars and alumni
  • Richard Armitage, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, 1983-1989; Deputy Secretary of State, 2001-2005
  • Shawn Brimley, Director for Strategic Planning, National Security Council, 2010–2012
  • Sharon Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy, 2010-2014
  • Kurt M. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2009–2013
  • Lieutenant General James Clapper, USAF (Ret), Director of National Intelligence, 2010–2017
  • Dr. Patrick Cronin, Assistant Administrator for Policy and Program Coordination, USAID
  • Abraham Denmark, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia
  • Dr. Andrew Exum, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, 2015–2016
  • Michele Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, 2009–2012
  • Richard Fontaine, Foreign Policy Advisor to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 2002–2008
  • Colin Kahl, National Security Advisor to the Vice President, 2014–2017
  • Robert D. Kaplan, author and columnist
  • Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, 2013–2017
  • Dr. Dafna H. Rand, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of State, 2015–Present
  • Dr. Ely Ratner, Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President, 2015–2017
  • Admiral Gary Roughead, USN (Ret), Chief of Naval Operations, 2007-2011
  • Loren DeJonge Schulman, Senior Advisor to National Security Advisor Susan Rice, 2013–2015
  • Julianne Smith, Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President, 2012–2013
  • Robert O. Work, Deputy Secretary of Defense, 2014–2017

References
  1. "People". Center for a New American Security. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  2. "Center for a New American Security" (PDF). Amazon Web Services. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-11-30. Retrieved 2009-12-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Carlos Lozada -- Setting Priorities for the Afghan War". The Washington Post. June 7, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  5. Ricks, Thomas E. (January 16, 2008). "High-Profile Officer Nagl to Leave Army, Join Think Tank". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  6. Center for a New American Security, Robert Kaplan Archived 2011-03-15 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. Yochi J. Dreazen, "Obama dips into think tank for talent", The Wall Street Journal, 18 November 2008
  8. "CNAS Supporters". www.cnas.org.
  9. U.S. Department of Defense, "Speech: As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, West Point, NY Archived April 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, 25 February 2011.
  10. See, for example, Robert Kaplan 'Oman's Renaissance Man', Foreign Policy, 1 March 2011.
  11. "Room for Debate: A Logical, but Difficult, Step". The New York Times. March 22, 2011.
  12. Kaplan, Robert D. (February 27, 2011). "Arab democracy and the return of the Mediterranean world". The Washington Post.
  13. Kaplan, Robert D. (March 26, 2011). "The Middle East Crisis Has Just Begun". The Wall Street Journal.
  14. "America Primed". The National Interest.
  15. The Daily Show, Thomas Ricks, 10 February 2009.
  16. C-SPAN, U.S. Military Intervention in Libya, 23 March 2011.
  17. NBC News, Meet the Press transcripts, 27 March 2011.
  18. "President of CNAS Richard Fontaine". Fox News.
  19. Tom Gjelten, In Libyan Conflict, is Endgame a Stalemate?, NPR, 24 March 2011.
  20. "CNN.com". CNN.
  21. Center for a New American Security, United States, Arab Leaders Walk Fine Line as Egypt's Power Center Remains Uncertain Archived 2011-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, 4 February 2011.
  22. "The Pentagon's New Cyber Strategy". Archived from the original on 2010-05-07.
  23. "Cyberspace Threats Often Blur Government Agency Lines". Archived from the original on 2010-06-12.
  24. Center for a New American Security, Asia-Pacific Security Archived 2009-12-15 at the Wayback Machine
  25. Center for a New American Security India Initiative Archived 2011-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
  26. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Press Gaggle on the President's Upcoming Trip to India, 27 October 2010.
  27. Center for a New American Security Cyber Security Archived 2011-05-01 at the Wayback Machine
  28. Kristin M. Lord and Travis Sharp, Cyber sanity, The Hill, 25 February 2011.
  29. Clark, Colin. "Romney Pledges Defense Boost; Analyst Predicts $1 Trillion in DoD Cuts." Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine AOL Defense, 7 October 2011.
  30. "Preparing the President". www.cnas.org.
  31. "The Future of U.S.-Russia Relations". Center for a New American Security.
  32. "Transatlantic Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific". Center for a New American Security.
  33. "Reset, Negotiate, Institutionalize: A Phased Middle East Strategy for the Next President". Center for a New American Security.
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