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Terrorism, Irregular Warfare and Crime

Terrorism & Irregular Warfare

CNAS explores  strategies for combating  terrorism, violent extremism, and various approaches for tackling the significant challenges posed by insurgencies and irregular warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the globe.

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  • The Sacrifice Ahead: The 2012 Defense Budget
    The Sacrifice Ahead: The 2012 Defense Budget
    Author(s): Travis Sharp
    Type of Publication: Policy Brief
    Date: 02/14/2011

    The fiscal year 2012 defense budget request is a break from the past ten years of budget growth, but it does not go far enough to rebalance defense spending priorities given the fiscal pressures and threats the United States faces, according to this policy brief. The Sacrifice Ahead: The 2012 Defense Budget recommends that the Department of Defense (DOD) pursue additional efficiencies savings and make modest reductions in its base budget to help shore up the U.S. economy, the core of America’s global and military power.

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  • Pressure: Coercive Economic Statecraft and U.S. National Security
    Pressure: Coercive Economic Statecraft and U.S. National Security
    Type of Publication: Report
    Date: 01/31/2011

    In 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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  • Robotic Skies: Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and the Strategic Defe
    Robotic Skies: Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and the Strategic Defense of Japan
    Type of Publication: Working Papers
    Date: 12/17/2010

    This report argues that intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) is important for Japan’s strategic defense in particular and for regional security in general, and assesses how Japan might utilize enhanced ISR through its alliance with the United States, by bolstering its national capacity, and by cooperating with other key countries in the wider Asia-Pacific region.

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  • Managing 21st-Century Diplomacy: Lessons from Global Corporations
    Managing 21st-Century Diplomacy: Lessons from Global Corporations
    Type of Publication: Report
    Date: 12/15/2010

    As 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 C
    Beyond Borders: Developing Comprehensive National Security Policies to Address Complex Regional Challenges
    Type of Publication: Working Papers
    Date: 12/15/2010

    This 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
    Responsible Transition: Securing U.S. Interests in Afghanistan Beyond 2011
    Type of Publication: Report
    Date: 12/07/2010

    This 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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  • Afghanistan’s Willing Entrepreneurs: Supporting Private-Sector Growth in the Afg
    Afghanistan’s Willing Entrepreneurs: Supporting Private-Sector Growth in the Afghan Economy
    Type of Publication: Policy Brief
    Date: 11/22/2010

    Despite ongoing security challenges, the Afghan private sector has enormous opportunity for development and growth and will be a significant determinant to long-term stability in the country, according to the Voices from the Field policy brief Afghanistan’s Willing Entrepreneurs: Supporting Private-Sector Growth in the Afghan Economy. Authors Jake Cusack and Erik Malmstrom are Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans and graduate fellows at Harvard's Kennedy and Business School.

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  • Monsoon
    Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power
    Author(s): Robert Kaplan
    Type of Publication: Book
    Date: 10/19/2010

    In his new book, MONSOON: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power (A Random House Hardcover, On Sale: October 19, 2010), bestselling author and CNAS Senior Fellow Robert D. Kaplan argues that the Indian Ocean region and countries known as “Monsoon Asia” will become crucial to American power in the twenty-first century.

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  • America's Interests in India
    America's Interests in India
    Type of Publication: Working Papers
    Date: 10/17/2010

    In this U.S.-India Initiative Series working paper, author Marshall Bouton explores U.S. strategic interests in a deepened relationship with India and argues that that strengthening relations with India is in the long-term interest of the United States and will help ensure an international system in that accords with U.S. economic and political values.

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  • Counterinsurgency and the Future of NATO
    Type of Publication: Working Papers
    Date: 10/01/2010

    In this first working paper produced by The Transatlantic Paper Series, CNAS President John Nagl and Non-Resident Senior Fellow Richard Weitz evaluate how NATO can best implement counterinsurgency in Afghanistan.

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  • Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels and U.S. National Security
    Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels and U.S. National Security
    September 30, 2010 - 4:30pm - 7:30pm
    Willard Intercontinental Hotel's Willard Room
    Washington, District of Columbia

    On September 30, 2010, CNAS will host a provocative discussion on the growing national security threat of organized crime in the Western Hemisphere and launch its groundbreaking report Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels and U.S. National Security. Watch the event live at www.cnas.org/live.

     

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  • An Indispensable Force: Investing in America's National Guard and Reserves
    September 23, 2010 - 1:30pm - 3:00pm
    The Willard InterContinental Hotel - Washington, DC
    ,

    On September 23, 2010, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will launch its new report on continuing challenges facing the National Guard and Reserves at an event featuring CNAS President Dr. John Nagl, former Chairman of the Commission on National Guard and Reserves Arnold Punaro, and several outside defense experts. 

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  • CNAS 4th Annual Conference
    Shaping the Agenda: American National Security in the 21st Century
    June 10, 2010 - 1:30pm - 8:00pm
    Willard Intercontinental Hotel's Grand Ballroom
    Washington, District of Columbia

    The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will hold its fourth annual conference, Shaping the Agenda: American National Security in the 21st Century, on June 10, 2010. The event will feature a keynote address by Michèle Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and three expert panels discussing the most salient national security challenges America faces. 

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  • National Security Leaders Forum Discussion with Admiral James Stavridis
    May 17, 2010 - 6:30pm - 8:30pm
    The Willard InterContinental Hotel
    Washington, District of Columbia

    On May 17, 2010 the Center for a New American Security hosted Admiral James Stavridis as part of the National Security Leaders Forum for a discussion of the future role of NATO.

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  • Voices from the Field: Colonel Gregory Breazile
    April 8, 2010 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm
    CNAS Conference Room
    Washington, District of Columbia

    The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) was honored to host Colonel Gregory T. Breazile, USMC, as a speaker in our ongoing Voices from the Field project.  Colonel Breazile is currently serving as the Director of Communication and Spokeman for the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A).

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  • National Security Leaders Forum Discussion with General George Casey, Jr.
    April 1, 2010 - 6:00pm - 8:30pm
    WIllard Intercontinental Hotel's Crystal Room
    ,

    The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) was honored to host General George Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff of the Army, for National Security Leaders Forum discussion on April 1, 2010. The discussion focused on the challenge of rebalancing the Army while engaged in two prolonged conflicts.

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  • NATO: Delivering Real Security in an Age of Uncertainty
    NATO: Delivering Real Security in an Age of Uncertainty
    February 22, 2010 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm
    Gaston Hall, Georgetown University
    Washington, District of Columbia

    On Monday, February 22, 2010, CNAS and Georgetown University hosted a discussion with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on the challenges and opportunities – including operations in Afghanistan – for the over 60-year-old Alliance. 

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  • Voices from the Field: Majors Jin Pak and Kendric H. Robbins
    December 3, 2009 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm
    Center for a New American Security
    Washington, District of Columbia

    On December 3, 2009, the Center for a New American Security hosted Majors Jin Pak and Kendric Robbins of the U.S. Army as part of our Voices from the Field series. Majors Pak and Robbins discussed our countries ongoing efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as military officership, veterans’ issues, and U.S.-Asia affairs.

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  • The Fourth Star
    CNAS Book Launch: The Fourth Star
    October 13, 2009 - 6:00pm - 9:00pm
    Willard InterContinental Hotel's Grand Ballroom
    Washington, District of Columbia

    The Center for a New American Security held a book launch and discussion on The Fourth Star, by journalists and former CNAS Writers in Residence Greg Jaffe and David Cloud.  The Fourth Star tells the story of the epic struggle for the future of the U.S. Army through profiling four influential generals who have arguably helped redefine the American way of war: Generals John Abizaid, George Casey Jr., Peter Chiarelli, and David Petraeus.  Watch the video from the event here.

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  • Counterinsurgency Leadership in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond
    September 23, 2009 - 7:00am - 5:00pm
    National Press Club
    Washington, District of Columbia

    CNAS President John Nagl, CNAS CEO Nathaniel Fick, CNAS Senior Fellow Thomas Ricks, and CNAS Senior Fellow Robert Kaplan participated in the Marine Corps University Symposium Counterinsurgency Leadership in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond at the National Press Club. The event included a keynote address on leadership in counterinsurgency given by General David Petraeus, USA, CENTCOM Commander.

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  • Command Post, 9/11, U.S. military, national security
    Command Post: The Human Toll Taken by a Decade of War
    Date: 09/15/2011
    Media: Video

    Just how worn out are our troops because of non-stop combat since 9/11? To what degree has that contributed to problems like PTSD, family breakups and suicide in the ranks?  This week, on Command Post, we discuss the tenacity of U.S. troops, as well as the cracks that can appear after a decade of fighting. Margaret Harrell, a military manpower expert at the Center for a New American Security, and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times -- co-author of Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda, tackle these tough issues. Joining me is John Nagl, CNAS president and retired Army officer.

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  • Command Post, Counterstrike, U.S. military, veterans, 9/11
    Command Post: "How Did the U.S. Military Retool Itself Post-9/11?"
    Date: 09/13/2011
    Media: Video

    In the decade after 9/11, just how much did the U.S. military have to recalibrate to fight the wars it found itself launching in Afghanistan and, 18 months later, in Iraq? This week, on Command Post, we discuss the retooling of the American armed forces with Eric Schmitt of the New York Times -- co-author of Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda -- and Margaret Harrell, a military manpower expert with the Center for a New American Security. I'm joined, as usual, by CNAS president John Nagl.

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  • Command Post, Counterstrike, national security, terrorism, 9/11
    Command Post: "Did the U.S. Overreact to 9/11?"
    Date: 09/08/2011
    Media: Video

    It's a fair question as the 10th anniversary of the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon looms. After all, it was the most shocking macro-event most Americans alive have experienced. It changed our way of life, or at least our way of living. It also triggered two costly and continuing wars. If we did overreact, how should we recalibrate? This week, on Command Post, we're looking into the post-9/11 U.S. national-security mindset with Eric Schmitt of the New York Times --  co-author of Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda -- and Margaret Harrell, a military manpower expert with the Center for a New American Security. I'm joined by fellow questioner John Nagl, CNAS's president.

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  • U.S. military in Iraq after 2011, CNAS
    Dispute brewing over Iraq troop withdrawal
    Date: 09/08/2011
    Media: Audio

    Senior Fellow Tom Ricks discusses significant factors shaping the debate over a U.S. military presence in Iraq after 2011 on WTOP Radio.

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  • counterstrike, 9/11, al qaeda, terrorism, cnas
    Counterstrike: The Untold Story Of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda - Audio
    Date: 09/08/2011
    Media: Audio

    On September 8, 2011, CNAS held an inaugural book release party at the Willard InterContinental Hotel for Counterstrike. At the release event, Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker offered the audience an insider’s look at how the U.S. government has adapted its strategy for fighting terrorism since 2001.

    Listen to audio of the event here.

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  • counterstrike, 9/11, al qaeda, terrorism, cnas
    Counterstrike: The Untold Story Of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda - Video
    Date: 09/08/2011
    Media: Video

    On September 8, 2011, CNAS held an inaugural book release party at the Willard InterContinental Hotel for Counterstrike. At the release event, Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker offered the audience an insider’s look at how the U.S. government has adapted its strategy for fighting terrorism since 2001.

    Watch the video of the event here.

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  • counterstrike, 9/11, al qaeda, terrorism, cnas
    Counterstrike: The Untold Story Of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda - Photos
    Date: 09/08/2011
    Media: Photo

    On September 8, 2011, CNAS held an inaugural book release party at the Willard InterContinental Hotel for Counterstrike. At the release event, Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker offered the audience an insider’s look at how the U.S. government has adapted its strategy for fighting terrorism since 2001.

    View a slideshow of the event here.

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  • Command Post, 9/11, national security, terrorism, Counterstrike
    Command Post: "How Has U.S. National Security Changed Since 9/11?"
    Date: 09/06/2011
    Media: Video

    It's hard to believe -- at least for some of us -- that it has been a decade since 9/11. Before then, covering the military meant going out to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, to witness future ways of war that, in hindsight, seem obsolete. For the past decade, the U.S. military -- and indeed, the U.S. itself -- has been consumed with people -- individuals -- who hate us, and are willing to kill themselves to show the depths of their anger-cum-depravity. This week, on Command Post, we're looking into the post-9/11 U.S. national-security mindset with Eric Schmitt of the New York Times -- and co-author of Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda -- and Margaret Harrell, a military manpower expert with the Center for a New American Security. I'm joined, comme d'habitude, by John Nagl, CNAS's president.

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  • Contractors, Iraq, Afghanistan, Wartime Commission on Contracting
    Panel Finds Massive Waste By Wartime Contractors
    Date: 09/01/2011
    Media: Audio

    On National Public Radio, CNAS Senior Fellow Richard Fontaine comments on waste and fraud in government contracts for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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  • CNAS, Petraeus, Military, Retirement
    As Leadership Changes, So Could Afghanistan Strategy
    Date: 08/31/2011
    Media: Audio

    On National Public Radio, CNAS President John Nagl and Senior Fellow Tom Ricks debate the legacy of General Petraeus.

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  • David Barno
    Lieutenant General David W. Barno, USA (Ret.)
    Senior Advisor and Senior Fellow

    General Barno, a highly decorated military officer with over 30 years of service, has served in a variety of command and staff positions in the United States and around the world, to include command at every level. He served many of his early years in special operations forces with Army Ranger battalions, to include combat in both the Grenada and Panama invasions. In 2003, he was selected to establish a new three-star operational headquarters in Afghanistan and take command of the 20,000 U.S. and Coalition Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom. For 19 months in this position, he was responsible for the overall military leadership of this complex political-military mission, devising a highly innovative counterinsurgency strategy in close partnership with the U.S. embassy and coalition allies.

    | Read Full Bio |
  • Dr. Nora Bensahel
    Dr. Nora Bensahel
    Deputy Director of Studies and Senior Fellow

    Dr. Nora Bensahel is Deputy Director of Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.  She recently co-authored Hard Choices: Responsible Defense in an Age of Austerity, and Sustainable Pre-eminence: Reforming the U.S. Military at a Time of Strategic Change. Her other research interests include stability operations, counterinsurgency, civilian capacity for operations abroad, and coalition and alliance operations. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Security Studies Program at the Edmund A.

    | Read Full Bio |
  • Dr. Patrick M. Cronin
    Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program

    Patrick M. Cronin is a Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).  Previously, he was the Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at National Defense University and has a nearly 30-year career inside government and academic research centers, spanning defense affairs, foreign policy, and development assistance.

    | Read Full Bio |
  • Robert Leslie Deak
    Robert Leslie Deak
    Board of Directors, National Defense University

    Robert Leslie Deak is President and Chief Executive Officer of Bittachon Holdings, Inc, a firm based out of Rye, New York, that develops and manages companies in the United States and the broader Middle East. Previously, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American National Bank of New York from 1985 to 1991 and before that was President and CEO of Deak-Perera US, Inc., from 1973 to 1985.

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  • Peter deNeufville
    Peter B. deNeufville
    Chairman, Voltaix, LLC

    Peter deNeufville serves as Chairman of Voltaix, L.L.C., a manufacturer of chemical-vapor-deposition materials for the semiconductor and thin-film photovoltaic industries.  He is also a partner in DNAC, a New York-based merchant advisory firm.  He has helped finance and served as a director for a number of early-stage technology companies. 

    Mr. deNeufville is also active in national security and environmental issues.  He is a reserve officer in the U.S.

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  • Lieutenant General David A. Deptula (Ret.)
    Lieutenant General David A. Deptula, USAF (Ret.)
    President and Chief Executive Officer, The Deptula Group, LLC

    Lieutenant General David A. Deptula (Ret.) is a highly decorated military leader who transitioned from the U.S.

    | Read Full Bio |
  • Major General Charles Dunlap, USAF (Ret.)
    Associate Director, Duke University School of Law Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security

    Prior to his retirement on 1 June 2010, Major General Dunlap served as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Air Force.  In that position he assisted in the professional oversight of more than 2,200 judge advocates, 350 civilian attorneys, 1,400 enlisted paralegals and 500 civilians assigned worldwide.  In addition to overseeing an array of military justice, operational, international and civil law functions, General Dunlap provided legal advice to the Air Staff and commanders at all levels.

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  • David Finkel
    David Finkel
    Writer in Residence

    David Finkel is the author of The Good Soldiers, a ground-level account of the U.S. "surge" into the Iraq war, published in 2009 by Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. An editor and writer for The Washington Post, Finkel has reported from Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, and across the United States, and was part of the Post’s war coverage in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 2006 for a series of stories about U.S.

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  • Dr. Colin H. Kahl
    Dr. Colin H. Kahl
    Senior Fellow

    Dr. Colin H. Kahl is a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) focusing on Middle East security and defense policy and an associate professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

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  • Dr. David Kilcullen
    President and CEO, Caerus Associates

    Dr. David Kilcullen is a former Non-Resident Senior Fellow and Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Dr. Kilcullen was also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with CNAS in 2007 and collaborated with CNAS on Iraq and Afghanistan reports, as well as violent extremism and grand strategy Solarium projects in 2007 and 2008.  

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