Featured Reports
Stuck in the Cul-de-Sac
Carlton Haelig, Philip Sheers | October 21, 2025
Countering the Digital Silk Road
Vivek Chilukuri, Ruby Scanlon | October 15, 2025
Tipping the Scales
Caleb Withers | September 23, 2025
Countering the Swarm
Stacie Pettyjohn, Molly Campbell | September 10, 2025
Reports
Stuck in the Cul-de-Sac
For more than a decade, the United States has sought to modernize its military to deter China, but it has become stuck in a developmental cul-de-sac that has allowed China to ...
Reports
Countering the Digital Silk Road
The year 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the Digital Silk Road (DSR), China’s effort to strengthen its global ties and influence through technology. In the decade since the...
Reports
Tipping the Scales
This report examines how emerging AI capabilities could disrupt the cyber offense-defense balance....
Reports
Countering the Swarm
After decades of air dominance and a near monopoly on precision strike, the United States now faces a dramatically different, more hostile world as the proliferation of cheap ...
AMERICA'S EDGE
The United States faces a rapidly changing global security landscape. Evolving technology, shifting alliances, and emerging threats require America to harness bold, innovative approaches. The CNAS 2025 national security conference, America’s Edge: Forging the Future, will bring together bipartisan leaders, policymakers, and industry to chart a vision for enhancing America’s global edge.
Event
CNAS 2025 National Security Conference | America's Edge: Forging the Future
Jun 3, 2025
Reports
The First 100 Days
The First 100 Days is a series of recommendations from CNAS experts. The recommendations span the most pressing issues that will test the administration, including competition...
Reports
Global Swing States and the New Great Power Competition
International politics is undergoing a period of rapid, significant change. China and Russia are working together more closely and alongside Iran and North Korea...
Press
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CNAS Announces 2026 Shawn Brimley Next Generation National Security Fellows
Press Release
Washington, January 28, 2026—The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) announced today the selection of the 2026 Shawn Brimley Next Generation National Security Fellows. N...
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Iran’s Neighbors on Edge as U.S. ‘Armada’ Arrives in Middle East
In The News
Iran’s neighbors are on edge over the possibility that President Trump will pull the trigger on strikes against Iran, as Tehran and its allies have promised to forcefully reta...
By Adham Sahloul
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In The News
Technology & National Security
Algorithmic Warfare: AI a Double-Edged Sword for Cyber Defense, OffenseArtificial intelligence holds great potential to enhance both offensive and defensive operations in the cyber domain, but it remains to be seen which side of the coin will ben...
By Caleb Withers
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Behind China’s Race to Build Aircraft-Carriers
In The News
Just before Christmas, the Pentagon quietly released its annual report on the Chinese armed forces. The public document, based on classified intelligence assessments, was quic...
By Tom Shugart
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Inside China’s AI Army: Drones Learn to Hunt and Kill like Nature’s Predators
In The News
China is teaching its drones to fight like animals. Engineers at Beihang University, a military-linked school, created a system in which defensive drones mimic hawks by target...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
Featured
Audio & Video
Events
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Past Event
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Past Event
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Past Event
Our Research Programs
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Behind China’s Race to Build Aircraft-Carriers
Just before Christmas, the Pentagon quietly released its annual report on the Chinese armed forces. The public document, based on classified intelligence assessments, was quic...
By Tom Shugart
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Pentagon Broadens Counter-Drone Authorities in Bid to Shore up Vulnerable U.S. Bases
By Molly Campbell
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New U.S. Defense Strategy ‘Barely Mentions Technology’
By Stacie Pettyjohn
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Behind China’s Race to Build Aircraft-Carriers
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India-EU Trade Deal: A New Superpower Pact | PM Modi Holds Talks With EU Leaders
Lisa Curtis, Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, joined CNN News18 to discuss the recent India-EU trade deal. Watch the f...
By Lisa Curtis
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Japan Wants Calm, China Not So Much
By Derek Grossman
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David Feith on Trump 1.0 vs Trump 2.0 and China
By David Feith
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India-EU Trade Deal: A New Superpower Pact | PM Modi Holds Talks With EU Leaders
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National Security Human Capital Program
Many Future Military Officers Come from Scouting. A Pentagon Split Could Put Those Ties at Risk.Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is reportedly considering severing ties with Scouting America, which could mean a consequential break with an organization that has long been...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
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National Security Human Capital Program
Pentagon Creates Permanent PCs Agency, Eyes Software Overhaul to Fix Military MovesBy Katherine L. Kuzminski
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National Security Human Capital Program
VA Awards Disability Benefits Using Criteria from 80 Years Ago, Federal Watchdog FindsBy Kyleanne Hunter
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Will the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ Pay off Long Term?
President Trump has put the U.S. on an expansionist path not seen since the early 1800s, trying to increase national territory and influence with an ironclad view that the Wes...
By Jim Townsend
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The Memo: U.S. Allies Grapple with a World Order Upended by Trump
By Jim Townsend
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Transatlantic Tumult at Davos
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
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Will the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ Pay off Long Term?
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Iran’s Neighbors on Edge as U.S. ‘Armada’ Arrives in Middle East
Iran’s neighbors are on edge over the possibility that President Trump will pull the trigger on strikes against Iran, as Tehran and its allies have promised to forcefully reta...
By Adham Sahloul
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Defense / Middle East Security
Trump’s Move to Send U.S. Ships to Mideast Renews Iran ThreatBy Becca Wasser
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Russia Is Taking Advantage of the Destabilized Globe
By Rachel Ziemba
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Iran’s Neighbors on Edge as U.S. ‘Armada’ Arrives in Middle East
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Sanctions by the Numbers: 2025 Year in Review
This installment of Sanctions by the Numbers examines the United States’ use of financial sanctions and entity-based export controls...
By Eleanor Hume & Kyle Rutter
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Trump Administration Pushes Out Official Whose Unit Banned Chinese Vehicles
By Geoffrey Gertz
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Trump Wants U.S. Investment in Venezuela, but Sanctions Still Complicate It
By Emily Kilcrease
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Sanctions by the Numbers: 2025 Year in Review
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Technology & National Security
Algorithmic Warfare: AI a Double-Edged Sword for Cyber Defense, OffenseArtificial intelligence holds great potential to enhance both offensive and defensive operations in the cyber domain, but it remains to be seen which side of the coin will ben...
By Caleb Withers
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Technology & National Security
The Rise of the Answer MachinesBy Brendan McCord
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Technology & National Security
Trump Cements U.S. Strategy on Semiconductor Chips Despite China RisksBy Janet Egan
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Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
Accountability and Oversight Concerns in DHSCNAS general counsel and senior fellow Carrie Cordero joins CNN to discuss a 2020 CNAS report detailing how to improve the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through enhanc...
By Carrie Cordero
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Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
Legal Questions Remain After U.S. Capture of MaduroBy Carrie Cordero
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Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
Nicolás Maduro Indictment ImplicationsBy Carrie Cordero
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How the U.S. and South Africa Could Use the G20 to Plot a Path Forward
In the contest for the future of global order, South Africa’s choices will have a disproportionate impact on the outcome....
By Richard Fontaine & Gibbs McKinley
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Losing the Swing States
By Richard Fontaine & Gibbs McKinley
- New CNAS Report Argues Six “Global Swing States” Will Shape the New Great Power Competition
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How the U.S. and South Africa Could Use the G20 to Plot a Path Forward
