Homepage | CNAS

Featured Reports

Countering the Swarm

Stacie Pettyjohn, Molly Campbell | September 10, 2025

Game Over?

Emily Kilcrease, Geoffrey Gertz | August 04, 2025

Understanding Russia’s Calculus on Opportunistic Aggression in Europe

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Kate Johnston, Greg Weaver | September 04, 2025

Global Compute and National Security

Janet Egan | July 29, 2025

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 ...

Game Over?

The trade wargame suggests that sustained high tariffs could create leverage and urgency to spur action toward a productive restructuring of the international trade system....

Understanding Russia’s Calculus on Opportunistic Aggression in Europe

Executive Summary Numerous factors are working to dissuade Russia from directly challenging NATO, but once Moscow reconstitutes its military, one scenario stands out as a plau...

Global Compute and National Security

The current pathway to breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities relies on amassing and leveraging vast “compute”—specialized chips housed within massive data cen...

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.

CNAS 2025 National Security Conference | America's Edge: Forging the Future

Jun 3, 2025

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...

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

In The News

National Security Human Capital Program
National Guard Documents Reveal Candor, ‘Shame’ over D.C. Deployment
The National Guard, in measuring public sentiment about President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., has assessed that its mission is perceived as “leveragin...

By Dr. Jason Dempsey
- The Washington Post
- September 10, 2025
Press Release

Defense
CNAS Report Finds U.S. Military Unprepared for Drone Threat
Washington, September 10, 2025—A new report released by the Center for a New American Security’s (CNAS) Defense Program finds that the United States is unprepared to defend ag...

By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
- September 10, 2025
In The News

Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
Russian Drones Have Entered Several NATO Countries’ Airspace. Far More May Be Within Their Range
The latest massive aerial attack on Ukraine hit a new milestone in the continuing escalation of Russian bombardments, after Poland announced that it had closed airports and do...

By Samuel Bendett
- The Kyiv Independent
- September 10, 2025
In The News

Defense
Report: U.S. Counter-Drone Defenses ‘Insufficient’ as China Scales Up Unmanned Capabilities
A new thinktank report has concluded that though the Pentagon has significantly invested in counter-drone capabilities over the past decade, the level of speed and scale at wh...

By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
- Breaking Defense
- September 10, 2025
In The News

Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
Is NATO Prepared for Autonomous Warfare?
In a clear sign of the Kremlin’s ambitions, nineteen Russian drones crossed into Poland’s airspace in an attempt to test NATO’s resolve. Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, ...

By Samuel Bendett
- The National Interest
- September 10, 2025

Featured
Audio & Video

Events

Upcoming
- Sep 18, 2025
Virtual Event | Countering China’s Digital Silk Road: Saudi Arabia
Upcoming
- Sep 16, 2025
Virtual Event | National Security Exchange with Richard Fontaine and Adam Boehler
Upcoming
- Sep 15, 2025
Virtual Event | Brussels Sprouts LIVE: Europe with Less U.S.: Preventing Russia Opportunistic Aggression in Europe

Our Research Programs

Defense
- Defense
  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 ...
  
  By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
  - Reports
- Defense
  Report: U.S. Counter-Drone Defenses ‘Insufficient’ as China Scales Up Unmanned Capabilities
  By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
  - In The News
- Defense / Transatlantic Security
  Europe’s Delusions Over What It Means to Deter Russia
  By Franz-Stefan Gady
  - Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security
- Indo-Pacific Security / Middle East Security / Technology & National Security
  United Arab Emirates Joins U.S. and China in Giving Away A.I. Technology
  In a move that shows the growing influence of the United Arab Emirates in the global artificial intelligence race, a new research lab backed by the Persian Gulf nation said on...
  
  By Pablo Chavez
  - In The News
- Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
  U.S.-India Relations Strained by Shifting Alliances and Economic Pressures
  By Lisa Curtis
  - In The News
- Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
  Trump Unfriends Modi's India: Trump Frothing, India Calm
  By Daniel Silverberg
  - Video
National Security Human Capital Program
- National Security Human Capital Program
  National Guard Documents Reveal Candor, ‘Shame’ over D.C. Deployment
  The National Guard, in measuring public sentiment about President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., has assessed that its mission is perceived as “leveragin...
  
  By Dr. Jason Dempsey
  - In The News
- National Security Human Capital Program / Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
  ‘Not Like Calling 911’—How A National Guard Call-Up Actually Works
  By Katherine L. Kuzminski
  - In The News
- National Security Human Capital Program
  Donald Trump to Order Defense Department's Renaming
  By Katherine L. Kuzminski
  - In The News
Transatlantic Security
- Transatlantic Security
  Drones over Poland with Doug Lute and Kurt Volker
  In the early hours of September 10th, Polish authorities detected 19 Russian drones over Polish airspace. This incident represents a major escalation, with Poland triggering A...
  
  By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
  - Podcast
- Transatlantic Security
  ‘The U.S. Has Got to Get Involved’: Townsend on NATO Boosting Polish Air Defences
  By Jim Townsend
  - Video
- Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
  Is NATO Prepared for Autonomous Warfare?
  By Samuel Bendett
  - In The News
Middle East Security
- Middle East Security
  Israel’s Strike in Qatar: A “Big Red Line Has Been Crossed”
  Donald Trump says he's "not thrilled" by Israel's unprecedented strike against Hamas in the Gulf state of Qatar – a key American ally. He adds it was the lone decision of Isra...
  
  By Adham Sahloul
  - Video
- Indo-Pacific Security / Middle East Security / Technology & National Security
  United Arab Emirates Joins U.S. and China in Giving Away A.I. Technology
  By Pablo Chavez
  - In The News
- Middle East Security
  The Main Points in the Leaked Plan for Gaza
  By Adham Sahloul
  - Video
Energy, Economics & Security
- Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
  U.S.-India Relations Strained by Shifting Alliances and Economic Pressures
  President Donald Trump expressed concern that the United States has “lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China,” following a series of appearances by Chinese President ...
  
  By Lisa Curtis
  - In The News
- Energy, Economics & Security
  The Fight to Preserve North American Trade
  By Emily Kilcrease
  - In The News
- Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
  Trump Unfriends Modi's India: Trump Frothing, India Calm
  By Daniel Silverberg
  - Video
Technology & National Security
- Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
  Is NATO Prepared for Autonomous Warfare?
  In a clear sign of the Kremlin’s ambitions, nineteen Russian drones crossed into Poland’s airspace in an attempt to test NATO’s resolve. Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, ...
  
  By Samuel Bendett
  - In The News
- Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
  Russian Drones Have Entered Several NATO Countries’ Airspace. Far More May Be Within Their Range
  By Samuel Bendett
  - In The News
- Technology & National Security
  The Quantum Uncertainty of Trump’s Policy
  By Constanza M. Vidal Bustamante
  - In The News
Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
- National Security Human Capital Program / Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
  ‘Not Like Calling 911’—How A National Guard Call-Up Actually Works
  The War Horse spoke with Katherine Kuzminski, director of studies at the Center for a New American Security and a widely regarded expert in military personnel policy, to learn...
  
  By Katherine L. Kuzminski
  - In The News
- Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
  Trump Pushes Bounds of Military, Police Immigration Actions
  By Carrie Cordero
  - In The News
- Securing U.S. Democracy Initiative
  Here Are Legal Issues Raised by Trump’s Order for National ‘Quick Reaction Force’
  By Carrie Cordero
  - In The News
Global Swing States
- Global Swing States
  New CNAS Report Argues Six “Global Swing States” Will Shape the New Great Power Competition
  Washington, June 26, 2025 – As international politics undergoes rapid transformation and great power competition intensifies, a new report from the Center for a New American S...
  - Press Release
- Global Swing States
  Global Swing States and the New Great Power Competition
  By Richard Fontaine & Gibbs McKinley
  - Reports
- Technology & National Security
  Countering the Digital Silk Road: Brazil
  By Ruby Scanlon & Bill Drexel
  - Reports