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Dr. James N. Miller

James N. Miller

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Related Topics: Terrorism, Irregular Warfare and Crime, U.S. Military Forces & Operations, U.S. National Security and Defense Policy, WMD and Nuclear Proliferation
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Dr. James N. Miller was Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Securit from February 2007 to April 2009. Previous positions include serving as Senior Vice President (2003-2007) and Vice President (2000-2003) at Hicks and Associates, Inc.; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Requirements, Plans, and Counterproliferation Policy (1997-2000); assistant professor at Duke University (1992-1997); and senior professional staff member for the House Armed Services Committee (1988-1992). He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Combating WMD Panel of DoD’s Threat Reduction Advisory Committee. He has served as an advisor to the Defense Science Board, as senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and as senior associate member at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. In 2000 he received the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Dr. Miller received a B.A. degree with honors in economics from Stanford University, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

View Selected Publications by Dr. James N. Miller

 

Areas of Expertise

  • Bioterrorism and biodefense
  • Counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism
  • Defense budget priorities
  • National security strategy
  • Nuclear weapons and arms control
  • U.S. military forces and operations

Related Content

  • The Case for Game-Changing Diplomacy with Iran
    Type of Publication: Policy Brief
    Date: 09/13/2008

    The next American president must come to office with an Iran plan ready to implement on Day One of his administration. That plan should center on conducting game-changing diplomacy with Iran.

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  • Iran Report
    Iran: Assessing U.S. Strategic Options
    Type of Publication: Report
    Date: 09/12/2008

    Dealing with Iran and its nuclear program will be an urgent priority for the next president. In order to evaluate U.S. policy options, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) convened a bipartisan group of experts on foreign policy and national security, retired military personnel, former diplomats and other government officials, and specialists on Iran and the region. Ambassador Dennis Ross presented a paper on diplomatic strategies for dealing with Iran, and Dr. Suzanne Maloney wrote on potential Iranian responses. Dr. Ashton Carter evaluated various U.S. military options, and Dr. Vali Nasr described likely Iranian reactions and other potential impacts. Ambassador Richard Haass considered the challenges of living with a nuclear Iran. Each of these papers represents an important contribution to a much-needed national discussion on U.S. policy toward Iran. Based on these papers and expert group discussion, as well as additional research and analysis, three CNAS authors (Dr. James Miller, Christine Parthemore, and Dr. Kurt Campbell) proposed that the next administration pursue “game-changing diplomacy” with Iran. While both Iran and the international community would be better off if Iran plays ball, game-changing diplomacy is designed to improve prospects for the United States and the international community irrespective of how Iran responds.

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  • Phased Transition: A Responsible Way Forward and Out of Iraq
    Type of Publication: Report
    Date: 06/27/2007

    The U.S. military will withdraw from Iraq; the question is when and under what conditions. This report will provide a realistic appraisal of America’s enduring interests in Iraq — no al Qaeda safe havens, no regional war, and no genocide — and to provide a Phased Transition plan that identifies specific steps the Bush administration can take to make these outcomes more likely while also preparing for the worst and begins planning for subsequent phases. At this dangerous moment, such realism is essential to increasing the prospects that the United States will get out of Iraq more responsibly than it got in.

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  • Congressional Quarterly: Administration Seeks ‘Just Right’ Approach to Iran Engagement
    Type: News Item
    Source: Congressional Quarterly

    March 18, 2009 — March 16, 2009 - Last fall, seasoned Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross laid out a Goldilocks-like set of diplomatic strategies for dealing with Iran: Tighten the noose of sanctions, engage without conditions, or pursue a hybrid option that combines negotiation and pressure.

    The first, he suggested in a report for the Center for a New American Security, would strengthen the hardline Iranian regime, the second would put the United States in a position of weakness.

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  • The Washington Post: Gates's Top Deputies May Leave - Major Shifts at Pentagon Anticipated in Obama Administration
    Type: News Item
    Source: The Washington Post

    December 2, 2008 — December 2, 2008 - Ann Scott Tyson writes, "Although President-elect Barack Obama's decision to keep Robert M. Gates at the helm of the Pentagon will provide a measure of continuity for a military fighting two wars, many of Gates's top deputies are expected to depart their jobs, according to senior defense and transition officials." CNAS co-founder and Pentagon transition review team co-leader, Michèle A. Flournoy, is said to be a leading candidate for a top job. 

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  • Wall Street Journal: Obama National-Security Team Set
    Type: News Item
    Source: Wall Street Journal

    December 1, 2008 — December 1, 2008-- Since the election, Obama has reiterated a campaign promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. "This is the area where you see extremely bright lines separating the Bush administration and the Obama administration," said James Miller, a senior vice president at the Center for a New American Security, a left-leaning think tank. "I would be shocked if anyone who supported those policies or implemented them got a job."

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  • Wall Street Journal: Obama Dips Into Think Tank for Talent
    Type: News Item
    Source: Wall Street Journal

    November 16, 2008 — November 16, 2008 - The Wall Street Journal's Yochi Dreazen writes about CNAS, calling it a "media saavy" think tank with "middle-of-the-road policy views."

     

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  • CNAS SVP James Miller Interviewed on Washington Journal
    Type: News Item
    Source: C-SPAN's Washington Journal

    November 11, 2008 — James Miller, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security, and S. Enders Wimbush, Director of the Center for Future Security Strategies at the Hudson Institute, were interviewed on C-SPAN's Washington Journal on challenges President-elect Obama will face.  Two main issues discussed were defense policy, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, and veterans affairs.

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  • CNAS Hosts Bipartisan Public Roundtable with Five Former Secretaries of State on the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy
    Type: Press Release

    Washington, DC, September 15, 2008 — WASHINGTON, DC, September 15, 2008 — Just a few blocks from the Department of State, the Center for a New American Security and six partner organizations hosted a bipartisan roundtable discussion today with five former Secretaries of State -- Madeleine K. Albright, James A. Baker, III, Warren Christopher, Henry Kissinger, and Colin L. Powell. This important discussion entitled ''The Next President: A World of Challenges'' took place as the general election campaign swings into high gear, and the presidential candidates and the world focus on complex global issues.

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  • Press Release: CNAS Hosts Congressional Staff Briefing on US Policy Toward Iran by Dr. James N. Miller and Dr. Suzanne Maloney
    Type: Press Release

    Washington, DC, September 12, 2008 — WASHINGTON, DC, September 12, 2008 — The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a congressional staff briefing on US policy toward Iran by Dr. James N. Miller, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at CNAS, and Dr. Suzanne Maloney, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, on September 12, 2008, from 12:00pm to 1:30pm. 

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  • America, Iran and Faulty Intelligence
    Type: News Item
    Source: Reuters

    July 23, 2008 — WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - "Iran is not in a revolutionary or even pre-revolutionary stage."

    That was the assessment of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in August 1978, at a time when Iran's ruler was America's closest ally in the Middle East. The Defense Intelligence Agency, a month later, predicted that the Shah of Iran, "is expected to remain actively involved in power over the next 10 years."

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  • Wall Street Journal: Toward a Nuclear-Free World
    Type: News Item
    Source: Wall Street Journal

    January 15, 2008 — January 15, 2008-- The accelerating spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear know-how and nuclear material has brought us to a nuclear tipping point. We face a very real possibility that the deadliest weapons ever invented could fall into dangerous hands.

    The steps we are taking now to address these threats are not adequate to the danger. With nuclear weapons more widely available, deterrence is decreasingly effective and increasingly hazardous.

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  • Wall Street Journal: A World Free of Nuclear Weapons
    Type: News Item
    Source: Wall Street Journal

    January 4, 2007 — January 4, 2007--Nuclear weapons today present tremendous dangers, but also an historic opportunity. U.S. leadership will be required to take the world to the next stage -- to a solid consensus for reversing reliance on nuclear weapons globally as a vital contribution to preventing their proliferation into potentially dangerous hands, and ultimately ending them as a threat to the world.

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  • General David Petraeus
    Striking a Balance: A New American Security
    June 11, 2009 - 7:45am - 7:00pm
    Willard InterContinental Hotel
    Washington, District of Columbia

    Striking a Balance: A New American Security was an all-day CNAS conference highlighting the major foreign policy and national security challenges facing our nation in the critical time ahead.

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