As members of the U.S. military and civilian agencies return from the front lines, they have unique and often invaluable insights to offer the policy-making community. Having witnessed the execution and effects of U.S. policy firsthand, these service members and civilians can offer field perspectives on best practices. By providing a platform for returning field grade officers and civilians the opportunity to speak and write, CNAS will help ensure that their experience informs the policy debate in Washington and the broader national security community.
SPEAKERS IN THE VOICES FROM THE FIELD EVENT SERIES
COL Joe Buche, USA Chief of Staff NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan
Col Patrick Hollrah, Maj Matthew Jones, and Capt Dustin Doyle, USAF Operation Unified Response- Haiti April 22, 2010
Col Gregory Breazile Director of Communications at NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan April 8, 2010
Majors Jin Pak and Kendric H. Robbins U.S. Army December 3, 2009
General Sir David Richards British Chief of General Staff September 22, 2009
1LT Russell L. Grant U.S. Army Reserves August 31, 2009
LT Joshua W. Welle United States Navy August 31, 2009
Sarah Chayes Special Advisor to Commander of ISAF July 28, 2009
Brigadier General John W. Nicholson, Jr. U.S. Army Deputy Commander - Stabilization, Regional Command South, International Security Assistance Force June 18, 2009
Lieutenant General David Deptula U.S. Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance at Headquarters Air Force May 27, 2009
Colonel Christopher D. Kolenda Military Special Advisor to Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) Senior Director for Counterinsurgency May 7, 2009
Robert D. Kaplan CNAS Senior Fellow and Correspondent for The Atlantic December 9, 2008
Thomas E. Ricks Former Military Correspondent, Washington Post February 19, 2008
David Kilcullen Former Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus and Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to Secretary Rice October 2, 2007
October 21, 2009 - CNAS Senior Fellow Tom Ricks speaks with Wolf Blitzer in CNN's Situation Room about the presidentail runoff in Afghanistan and U.S. military strategy.
October 20, 2009 - CEO Nate Fick is profiled by Politico as the leader of the "fledgling defense think tank that’s staking ground on counterinsurgency, North Korean nuclear negotiations and even global warming."
August 26, 2009 -NPR's Tom Bowman reports on delays in ramping up the civilian surge in Afghanistan. CNAS fellow Andrew Exum said, "The State Department and other U.S. agencies don't have a ready brigade that can just be deployed at any moment. So they recognize that if we get more civilian resources, we might not get them until next spring."
August 25, 2009 - Foreign Policy's Laura Rozen covers the CNAS Next Generation Leaders Program on FP.com. Rozen writes, "The Center for New American Security, the plugged-in Washington national security think tank which has had a slate of associates join the Obama administration, has announced those selected to be in its first class of Next Generation National Security Leaders."
April 21, 2009 - CNAS Senior Fellow Robert Kaplan's new piece in Foreign Policy entitled "The Revenge of Geography" is a must-read for understanding the nature of today's current and potential conflicts in Eurasia. Read the full article here.
March 20, 2009 - CNAS Fellow Andrew Exum addresses an important question from NYT Editors: "Are there rules of engagement that can minimize civilian casualties?"
February 27, 2009 - CNAS Military Fellow LTC Jim Crider writes in the Military Review the story of the Surge from Doura, Iraq. Between July 2007 and September 2007, an increased volume of troops, a focus on protecting the population, and the conduct of a detailed census all contributed a complete and lasting turn-around in a once very troubled part of the city.
February 23, 2009 - CNAS Senior Fellow David Kilcullen discusses the security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan with Morning Edition's Jackie Northam. He says, "the U.S. also will have to assess — and change — the way a new influx of U.S. troops is fighting the war in Afghanistan."
February 19, 2009 - Admiral Jim Stavridis blogs about his week in Washington, DC, where he delivered a speech as part of the CNAS National Security Leaders Forum event series on SOUTHCOM's interagency initiatives. Admiral Stavridis had this to say, "CNAS is populated with some of the really bright up-and-coming stars in the security/policy scene."
February 10, 2009 - CNAS Senior Fellow John Nagl discusses the need to change military tactics in Afghanistan, while initiating a "civilian surge." "Counter-insurgency campaigns have momentum. Like a football game when the crowd senses something before it happens. Right now the Taliban has that momentum," he says.
This report critically examines the relevance of the U.S. intelligence community to the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan and provides a blueprint for how the United States can make the intelligence community more relevant to the current mission.
March 17, 2009 - David Kilcullen is one of the world's most influential experts on counterinsurgency and modern warfare. A Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, his vision of war dramatically influenced America's decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement "the surge."
February 10, 2009 - In his new book out in stores February 10, CNAS Senior Fellow Thomas E. Ricks documents the inside story of the Iraq war since late 2005. Using hundreds of hours of interviews with top officers in Iraq and on-the-ground reporting, Ricks examines the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.
Invariably, armies are accused of preparing to fight the previous war. In Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl—a veteran of both Operation Desert Storm and the current conflict in Iraq—considers the now-crucial question of how armies adapt to changing circumstances during the course of conflicts for which they are initially unprepared. Through the use of archival sources and interviews with participants in both engagements, Nagl compares the development of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice in the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960 with what developed in the Vietnam War from 1950 to 1975.
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.
CNAS Chairman of the Board The Honorable Dr. Richard Danzig delivered the welcoming remarks at the CNAS third annual conference "Striking a Balance: A New American Security," along with CNAS Board Member Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns.
From the lessons they learned during multiple tours in Iraq these two veterans wrote, The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa, a concise guide for the conduct of counterinsurgency operations that provides valuable insights into how the nation should undertake its current conflicts and those in the future.
April 15, 2009 - The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) hosted a press conference with Robert Kaplan to discuss his forthcoming article in Foreign Policy magazine entitled "The Revenge of Geography." Listen to the audio from the conference here.
The Center for a New American Security was honored to host the launch event for CNAS Senior Fellow and counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen on his new book The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One, a book that takes an infinitely complicated situation like global terrorism and localized guerrilla warfare within the larger framework of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and makes them both understandable and interesting.
On December 5, as part of our ongoing discussion with veterans returning from the front line, the Center for a New American Security was pleased to feature Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling for the latest installment in our Voices from the Field Project.
WASHINGTON, D.C., OCTOBER 20, 2009 – After eight years of conflict and an ongoing policy review by the Obama Administration, the future of Afghanistan remains uncertain. As the latest assessment in Washington takes place amidst a contested Afghan national election, conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate.
February 17, 2009 - The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) would like to congratulate Michèle Flournoy, Co-Founder and former President, who was sworn-in last week as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. While we will miss Michèle's leadership, drive, and deep knowledge of national security issues, we know she will do great things for the country and the Department of Defense.
WASHINGTON, DC, January 5, 2009 - The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is pleased to announce that bestselling author, Thomas E. Ricks, has joined CNAS as a Senior Fellow. Concurrently with his duties at CNAS, he will write an online blog for ForeignPolicy.com called, "The Best Defense," serve as a contributing editor for Foreign Policy, and continue coverage as a special military correspondent for The Washington Post.
WASHINGTON, DC, November 19, 2008 – The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is pleased to officially announce that Dr. David Kilcullen has joined CNAS as a senior fellow. Kilcullen was a non-resident senior fellow with CNAS for more than a year and collaborated with CNAS on Iraq and Afghanistan reports, as well as violent extremism and grand strategy Solarium projects in 2007 and 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.
WASHINGTON, DC, August 13, 2008 The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a press briefing on Wednesday, August 13, with Senior Fellows John Nagl, Colin Kahl, and Shawn Brimley on their recent trip to Iraq. They traveled to Iraq on the invitation of General David Petraeus. Nagl, Kahl, and Brimley received high-level briefings, visited multiple Iraqi provinces, and spoke with a number of Iraqi politicians and citizens.
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.
Center for a New American Security hosted General Sir David Richards, British Chief of the General Staff as part of its Voices from the Field discussion series. The discussion focused on British engagement in Afghanistan and the region as well as the future of defense cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom.
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.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) was pleased to host an exclusive press briefing of Robert Kaplan's article in Foreign Policy magazine entitled "The Revenge of Geography" on April 15, 2009.
The Center for a New American Security was honored to host the launch event for CNAS Senior Fellow and counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen on his new book The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One, a book that takes an infinitely complicated situation like global terrorism and localized guerrilla warfare within the larger framework of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and makes them both understandable and interesting.
February 12, 2009 - The Center for a New American Security was thrilled to host CNAS Senior Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Thomas E. Ricks in an event to release his new book The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, a definitive account of the insurgency within the U.S. military that led to a radical shift in America's strategy in Iraq.
January 15, 2009--The Center for a New American Security was pleased to host a book launch of The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power, by David E. Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent of The New York Times.
On December 5, as part of our ongoing discussion with veterans returning from the front line, the Center for a New American Security was pleased to feature Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling for the latest installment in our Voices from the Field Project.
On December 4, 2008, CNAS Senior Fellow David Kilcullen participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Counterterrorism Blog on the 2008 Mumbai attacks. In addition to Dr. Kilcullen, the panel consisted of Dr. Walid Phares from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Farhana Ali of the RAND Corp., and was moderated by Andrew Cochran, Founder and Co-Editor of The Counterterrorism Blog.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a press briefing on Wednesday, August 13, with Senior Fellows John Nagl, Colin Kahl, and Shawn Brimley on their recent trip to Iraq. They traveled to Iraq on the invitation of General David Petraeus.