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Questions for Secretary of State Nominee Senator John Kerry
Author(s): Kay King, Jacob StokesType of Publication: FactsheetDate: 01/23/2013The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up the nomination of its chair, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to become secretary of state. President Obama has tapped Senator Kerry to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton at a time of great instability in the Middle East, economic uncertainty at home and abroad, increasing competition from China and diminishing budgets. In the memo Questions for Secretary of State Nominee Senator John Kerry, CNAS experts Kay King, Senior Advisor and Director of External Relations, and Jacob Stokes, Research Associate, propose several areas where senators should probe Senator Kerry’s views.
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America's Civilian Operations Abroad: Understanding Past and Future Requirements
Author(s): Dr. Nora Bensahel, Dr. Patrick M. CroninType of Publication: ReportDate: 01/12/2012America’s Civilian Operations Abroad: Understanding Past and Future Requirements, authored by Dr. Nora Bensahel, CNAS Deputy Director of Studies and Senior Fellow, and Dr. Patrick Cronin, CNAS Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program, examines the history of U.S. civilian operations abroad during the past 20 years and identifies several trends that are likely to affect future requirements.
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Hard Choices: Responsible Defense in an Age of Austerity
Type of Publication: ReportDate: 10/03/2011Hard Choices: Responsible Defense in an Age of Austerity, a report authored by CNAS experts LTG David W. Barno, USA (Ret.), Dr. Nora Bensahel and Travis Sharp, outlines four budget cut scenarios and evaluates possible trade-offs among force structure, end strength, procurement and overhead.
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Beyond Afghanistan: A Regional Security Strategy for South and Central Asia
Type of Publication: ReportDate: 05/25/2011The United States is at a strategic inflection point in South and Central Asia. The death of Osama bin Laden, together with the projected transition to a smaller U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, presents a new opportunity for the United States to protect its enduring interests in the region. In Beyond Afghanistan: A Regional Security Strategy for South and Central Asia, authors Lieutenant General David W. Barno, USA (Ret.), Andrew Exum and Matthew Irvine identify key priorities for the United States and the key components of a regional strategy in light of fast-changing current events.
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Disaster in Japan: Nuclear Energy, the Economy and the U.S.-Japan Alliance
Type of Publication: Policy BriefDate: 03/18/2011In Disaster in Japan: Nuclear Energy, the Economy and the U.S.-Japan Alliance, CNAS experts provide their perspectives on three critical areas: America's vital alliance with Japan, the world’s energy future and the Japanese economy.
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Pressure: Coercive Economic Statecraft and U.S. National Security
Type of Publication: ReportDate: 01/31/2011In recent years, the world has witnessed the power of the global economy to impact states' behavior and interactions within the international community. This report examines the capacity of the United States to use counter-threat finance by examining three cases - North Korea, Serbia and Iraq - to glean lessons learned for the future.
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Managing 21st-Century Diplomacy: Lessons from Global Corporations
Author(s): Kristin M. Lord, Richard FontaineType of Publication: ReportDate: 12/15/2010As the State Department prepares to implement recommendations from its first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), its leadership team must inevitably focus on management. This report, based on extensive interviews with executives from four major global companies – GE, McDonald’s Corp., FedEx and IBM – offers recommendations for how the State Department can incorporate corporate management lessons as it grapples with its own efforts at reform.
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Beyond Borders: Developing Comprehensive National Security Policies to Address Complex Regional Challenges
Author(s): Dr. Patrick M. Cronin, Brian BurtonType of Publication: Working PapersDate: 12/15/2010This report, authored by Patrick Cronin and Brian Burton, offers recommendations for how the United States can further sharpen its understanding of emerging hybrid regional challenges; improve governmental capacity for regional decision-making and strategy-making by building on a regional COCOM platform; and enhance its ability to build partners’ capacity, especially in the areas of security sector assistance and crisis prevention.
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Responsible Transition: Securing U.S. Interests in Afghanistan Beyond 2011
Type of Publication: ReportDate: 12/07/2010This report, authored by CNAS Senior Advisor and Senior Fellow Lieutenant General David Barno and Fellow Andrew Exum, lays out a strategy for the post-July 2011 phase of U.S. and NATO efforts in Afghanistan, defines the U.S. troop presence and commitment beyond 2014, and offers operational and strategic guidance for protecting U.S. and allied long-term interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels and U.S. National Security
Author(s): Colonel Robert Killebrew, USA (Ret.), Jennifer BernalType of Publication: ReportDate: 09/28/2010As illustrated by the unprecedented violence in Mexico, drug trafficking groups have evolved to not only pose significant challenges to that country, but to governments and societies across the Western Hemisphere, including the United States. Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels and U.S. National Security surveys organized crime throughout the Western Hemisphere, analyzes the challenges it poses for the region and recommends the United States replace the "war on drugs" paradigm with comprehensive domestic and foreign policies to confront the interrelated challenges of drug trafficking and violence ranging from the Andean Ridge to American streets.
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Civilian Capacity
Despite America's superpower status, the U.S. government is not as effective as it should be in conducting our day-to-day relations with the rest of the world. Leaders of the US military have been among the most outspoken advocates of boosting our civilian capacity, since they often must fill the gap and perform civilian functions such as reconstruction and even diplomacy itself.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the emergence of transnational challenges from terrorism to climate change, reveal the limits of military power and the need for all three legs of U.S. foreign and national security policy – diplomacy, development, and defense – to work together more effectively. They also require the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to play a more significant role in responding to crises and shaping U.S. foreign policy. However, State and USAID are not yet prepared to take on the demands of that role. They are not appropriately organized or sufficiently resourced; they lack not only a strong tradition of tying their operations to long-term strategic planning, but also the organizational structures and cultures necessary to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) has done extensive work to this end since its founding in 2007 including:
Managing 21st-Century Diplomacy: Lessons from Global Corporations, by CNAS Vice President and Director of Studies Kristin Lord and Senior Fellow Richard Fontaine, December 2010
Beyond Borders: Developing Comprehensive National Security Policies to Address Complex Regional Challenges, by CNAS Senior Advisor Patrick Cronin and Fellow Brian Burton, December 2010
Planning Diplomacy and Development: Force Planning Applications for the State Department and USAID, by CNAS Fellow Brian Burton, August 2010
Eye to the Future: Refocusing State Department Policy Planning, by CNAS Senior Fellow Richard Fontaine and Fellow Brian Burton, August 2010
Contractors in American Conflicts: Adapting to a New Reality by Richard Fontaine and Dr. John A. Nagl, June 2010
Engaging the Private Sector for the Public Good: The Power of Network Diplomacy, by CNAS Vice President and Director of Studies Dr. Kristin M. Lord, January 2010
Learning from Experience: Lessons from the QDR for the QDDR, by CNAS Research Associate Brian Burton, January 2010
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