Around the Table with Molly Campbell

Around the Table is a three-question interview series from the Make Room email newsletter. Each edition features a conversation with a peer in the national security community to learn about their expertise and experience in the sector.

Molly Campbell is a research assistant for the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Her research focuses on drone proliferation, drone and counterdrone warfare, and defense technology and innovation.

1. What advice would you give to someone trying to break into national security research right out of college?

Be open-minded, be patient, and be kind.

After graduating college, I envied my peers with clear post-grad plans while I didn’t have a job. Going into national security, and particularly national security research, is a choose-your-own-adventure—no person’s path to success is the same. Uncertainty and serendipity are inherent.

• Be Open-Minded! Be open to opportunities, even if it’s not what you think you should be doing. I’ve always found success by following my interest and passion, versus through strategy and planning. As Helmuth von Moltke said, the best laid plans don’t survive contact with the enemy. It’s great to plan, but you must be able to adapt when your path deviates—because it will!
• Be Patient! It will probably take some time for you to get where you want to go, and that’s okay! You’ll apply to a lot of jobs. You probably won’t hear back from most of them. Leverage your network—professors, friends, old coworkers, even family. Talk to everyone you can and learn as much as you can about the space. Eventually, you will find your first stepping stone into D.C.
• Be Kind! Striving to be kind to yourself and others is so important. It’s so easy to get caught up in the competition and ego of one’s work and forget that we are all connected by our commitment to serve the United States. I believe what you put out into the world comes back to you—having a reputation for being kind and collaborative colleague to everyone can only be an asset!

2. What first sparked your interest in defense?

My trajectory with defense is interesting. Throughout college, I always aspired to be in California politics and policy and never saw myself working in this space. As a lifetime lover of military history, I took a few military history courses and became hooked. I took more and more courses in the military history, national security, and international relations, but always relegated it to more of a hobby interest than a potential career.

Late in my college career I took “Nuclear Politics” with Dr. Scott Sagan, which fundamentally changed my professional trajectory, and helped me see how my academic interests connected with contemporary issues of defense and nuclear security.

I will always love California—and I may even pivot back to that work someday—but I felt that if I didn’t try to pursue a career in defense and national security, I’d spend the rest of my life wondering what could’ve been.

3. You’ve helped build a major dataset on drone proliferation. What is a professional lesson you learned taking on such a big project?

The Drone Proliferation Dataset really made clear to me the importance of taking a step back and really thinking about your research question and desired outcomes, while also understanding the dynamic, almost living nature of some projects. The final dataset that was published in September 2024 is a completely different product than what I started building in May 2023. Should I ever build and publish a dataset again, I certainly will do a lot of things differently. But in May 2023 I had no idea how much this project would grow and evolve – and I’m glad it did! Sometimes the research will take you in a completely different direction than you anticipated, and that makes the final product that much better.

Additionally, the drone proliferation dataset is a perfect example of how strong mentorship and professional development can help junior researchers succeed. I am lucky to have wonderful research leads who not only recognized the value of the dataset as an academic and policy resource but encouraged me to grow this project. Not many junior researchers are given the opportunity to work on something like this, not to mention an intern, which I was when I built the drone proliferation dataset.