Nilanthi Samaranayake

Nilanthi Samaranayake is a visiting expert at the United States Institute of Peace in the South Asia Programs and an adjunct fellow at the East-West Center in Washington. Her work focuses on Indian Ocean security, U.S.-India naval cooperation, smaller South Asian states, and nontraditional security. Previously, Samaranayake served as director of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA’s) Strategy and Policy Analysis Program, where she managed a team of analysts who conducted multidisciplinary research and analysis for civilian and military leaders. She also led several studies on Indian Ocean regional strategy and allied and partner engagement. Before joining CNA in 2010, she analyzed public opinion for a decade at the Pew Research Center in Washington and completed a fellowship at the National Bureau of Asian Research in Seattle.