Becca Wasser

Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Defense Program

Research Areas

Becca Wasser is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Defense Program. An expert in defense strategy, scenario planning, and wargaming, Wasser’s research assesses the impact of evolving geopolitical and technological trends on defense strategy and operations. Her current research projects focus on the future of warfare, particularly the long-term implications of changing geopolitical dynamics for the defense industrial base, the integration of AI and autonomy into future military operations, and conventional and nuclear deterrence in an increasingly proliferated world.

Wasser also leads The Gaming Lab at CNAS, where she designs and facilitates innovative wargames and scenario-based analysis to assess critical military and geopolitical issues ranging from a potential U.S.-China conflict to the global competition for critical semiconductor technologies. Through these exercises, Wasser provides valuable insights into the strategic decisions leaders may face in an increasingly complex global landscape.

Wasser recently served as a staff member of the bipartisan, congressionally appointed 2022 National Defense Strategy Commission, where she authored key sections of the commission’s report on adapting U.S. defense strategy for an increasingly uncertain security environment.

Prior to joining CNAS, Wasser was a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, where she provided analytic support on critical national security and defense issues to the U.S. Department of Defense and served as a liaison to U.S. Army HQDA G-3/5/7. Previously, she was a research analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based jointly in Washington, D.C., and Manama, Bahrain.

Wasser’s writing has been featured in prominent outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and War on the Rocks. Her analysis has also appeared in The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, CNN, MSNBC, and other leading media.

Wasser holds an MS in foreign service, with distinction, from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a BA in international and global studies from Brandeis University.

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Commentary
- March 17, 2025
The Development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan
By Vivek Chilukuri, Michael Depp, Bill Drexel, Janet Egan, Paul Scharre, Josh Wallin, Becca Wasser & Caleb Withers
Commentary
- Foreign Policy
- February 24, 2025
Build Allied AI or Risk Fighting Alone
By Becca Wasser & Josh Wallin
In The News
- POLITICO
- January 28, 2025
‘It Was Leaked to Us:’ Army in Chaos over Trump Orders
By Becca Wasser
Reports
- January 20, 2025
The First 100 Days
By Richard Fontaine, Geoffrey Gertz, Emily Kilcrease, Janet Egan, Paul Scharre, Vivek Chilukuri, Sam Howell, Constanza M. Vidal Bustamante, Stacie Pettyjohn, Carlton Haelig, Becca Wasser, Josh Wallin, Jacob Stokes, Lisa Curtis, Katherine L. Kuzminski, Carrie Cordero, Jonathan Lord & Jim Townsend
Commentary
- January 20, 2025
Build a High-Low Mix to Enhance America’s Warfighting Edge and Deter China
By Stacie Pettyjohn, Carlton Haelig, Becca Wasser & Josh Wallin