Dr. Nora Bensahel, Foreign Policy Expert and Military Strategist, Joins CNAS

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is pleased to announce that foreign policy expert and military strategist Dr. Nora Bensahel has joined CNAS as Deputy Director of Studies and Senior Fellow. Dr. Bensahel, who previously served as a Senior Political Scientist at RAND Corporation, brings deep expertise in U.S. foreign policy, military strategy and post-conflict reconstruction.

“Nora’s wide-ranging expertise, analytical rigor and deep commitment to pragmatic approaches to national security will bring immense value to the Center,” said CNAS Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel Fick. “We are proud to welcome her to our team.”

CNAS Vice President and Director of Studies Dr. Kristin Lord said, “Nora's reputation in the national security community is both outstanding and well deserved.  She is a superb policy analyst, a careful scholar and a great colleague.  We are all thrilled to be working with her.”

In addition to her role at CNAS, Dr. Bensahel also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Security Studies Program at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Her recent publications include After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq, Improving Capacity for Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations and “Organizing for Nation Building,” (Survival, 2007).  She also appeared on Washington Journal on March 23 to discuss military strategy in Libya. Watch the interview here.

Dr. Bensahel serves on the Executive Board of Women in International Security and has held fellowships at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University and the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University.

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent and nonpartisan research institution that develops strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS leads efforts to help inform and prepare the national security leaders of today and tomorrow.