Becca Wasser

Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Defense Program

Research Areas

Becca Wasser is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Defense Program and lead of The Gaming Lab at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Her research areas include defense strategy and operations, force posture and employment, and wargaming. She also serves as a staff member of the bipartisan, Congressionally-appointed 2022 National Defense Strategy Commission.

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 the military services. She also 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 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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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
Events
- December 6, 2024
Mission Brief | Irregular Warfare in an Era of Great Power Competition
By Becca Wasser
In The News
- The Washington Post
- November 5, 2024
As Middle East Crisis Grinds On, Pentagon Shows Signs of Strain
By Becca Wasser