News

CSBA Announces 2020 Congressional Defense Seminar Series

September 10, 2020

CSBA has launched the second season of its annual Congressional Defense Seminar Series. This acclaimed and highly selective program will bring together professional staff members from Congress for an evening series of topical seminars that aims to provide staffers with the tools to master the conceptual foundations of defense policy as well as the intricacies of contemporary national security processes. The forum comprises six weekly sessions beginning in October 2020 and will feature senior CSBA scholars and outside experts on national security policy.

CSBA Releases Which Way the Dragon? New Study Assesses Alternative Paths for China and the Indo-Pacific Region

August 14, 2020

Washington, DC, August 15, 2020 – Given the rapid pace of change in Asia during the last 20 years, assessing China’s longer-term trajectory represents a huge challenge for allied security planners. Despite the geostrategic disruptions of the 21st century thus far, Western policymakers continue to rely upon the same periodic defense assessment principles that were practiced during the relatively stable Cold War period. The policies that result must frequently be revised, often at great cost, in the face of frequent economic, political, and technological upheavals in Asia.

CSBA Appoints Chris Bassler as Senior Fellow

May 26, 2020

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), a premier institution for understanding the future of international competition and conflict, today announced the appointment of Dr. Chris Bassler as a Senior Fellow, effective immediately. Chris joins CSBA following an exceptionally distinguished career in government, and he will contribute to the organization’s research on joint aerospace capabilities, maritime operating concepts, and overall U.S. military strategy.

Studies

America’s Strategic Choices: Defense Spending in a Post-COVID-19 World

January 14, 2021 Thomas G. Mahnken, Jack Bianchi, Regan Copple, Madison Creery, Jan van Tol, Josh Chang

This report summarizes the findings of two Strategic Choices Exercises hosted by The Ronald Reagan Institute and CSBA in October 2020, convening a bipartisan group of senior defense and budget experts, current and former policy makers, and industry leaders. The initiative was supported by the National Defense Industrial Association.

Studies

Seizing on Weakness: Allied Strategy for Competing With China’s Globalizing Military

January 4, 2021 Toshi Yoshihara, Jack Bianchi

China’s military is going global. In the coming decade, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could be well-positioned to influence events and conduct a wide range of missions, including limited warfighting, beyond the Western Pacific. The United States and its close allies, who have enjoyed largely unobstructed access to the world’s oceans for the last three decades, will need to adjust to new military realities as the PLA makes its presence felt in faraway theaters.

Studies

Selective Disclosure: A Strategic Approach to Long-Term Competition

November 2, 2020 Thomas G. Mahnken

Although the Department of Defense has embraced the concept of "great power competition" as a planning and investment guide, it has yet to fully adapt its processes and priorities to maximize U.S. advantages in this environment. As the United States develops new defense technologies and concepts, policy planners should consider which ones to reveal, as well as the timing and extent to which they are revealed. As evidenced by Chinese and Russian disclosures, these considerations include not only concealing systems to delay an adversary’s response, but also disclosing information for strategic effect, such as provoking competitors to expend resources on defensive countermeasures based upon an incomplete grasp of a perceived capability.

Studies

Which Way the Dragon? Sharpening Allied Perceptions of China’s Strategic Trajectory

August 6, 2020 Ross Babbage, Jack Bianchi, Julian Snelder, Toshi Yoshihara, Aaron Friedberg and Nadège Rolland

Given the rapid pace of change throughout Asia in recent decades, assessing China’s longer-term trajectory – and that of the Indo-Pacific region as a whole – represents a huge challenge for defense and security planners. Attempts to predict China’s strategic posture 15 to 30 years from now are hampered by a far more volatile security environment than that which governed the Cold War era.

Studies

Uncovering China’s Influence in Europe: How Friendship Groups Coopt European Elites

July 1, 2020 Toshi Yoshihara, Jack Bianchi

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to shape the external environment to its liking through several means, ranging from coercive uses of military power to economic statecraft to influence operations. Beijing’s global campaign to influence perceptions and policies abroad, in particular, has drawn media attention and, increasingly, government scrutiny. In Europe, the CCP has opened a broad political front that could have implications for the region’s long-term policies toward China and for transatlantic relations. There is thus a growing need for policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic to better understand the goals, strategies, and methods of the actors that promote CCP influence in Europe.

Studies

Dragon Against the Sun: Chinese Views of Japanese Seapower

May 19, 2020 Toshi Yoshihara

Over the past decade, the Chinese navy overtook Japan’s maritime service in critical measures of power, including fleet size, aggregate tonnage, and firepower. China eclipsing Japan in naval power could introduce unwelcome strategic trends. It may well fuel an even more intense competition between Tokyo and Beijing, two seafaring rivals that already regard each other with deep suspicion. Japan’s displacement at sea could increase the probability of deterrence failure in the next crisis. It threatens to undercut U.S. confidence in Japan’s capacity to fulfill its allied responsibilities, sowing acrimony within the security partnership.

America’s Strategic Choices: Defense Spending in a Post-COVID-19 World

Seizing on Weakness: Allied Strategy for Competing With China’s Globalizing Military

Selective Disclosure: A Strategic Approach to Long-Term Competition

Which Way the Dragon? Sharpening Allied Perceptions of China’s Strategic Trajectory

Uncovering China’s Influence in Europe: How Friendship Groups Coopt European Elites

Dragon Against the Sun: Chinese Views of Japanese Seapower

Featured Event

Report Release Webinar: Selective Disclosure: A Strategic Approach to Long-Term Competition

Mark Esper: US Must Expand Fleet by 2045 to Retain Naval Dominance

Secretary of Defense Remarks at CSBA on the NDS and Future Defense Modernization Priorities

CSBA Announces 2020 Congressional Defense Seminar Series

CSBA Releases Which Way the Dragon? New Study Assesses Alternative Paths for China and the Indo-Pacific Region

CSBA Bolsters Its Research and Publications Team

CSBA Appoints Chris Bassler as Senior Fellow

Latest Publications

America’s Strategic Choices: Defense Spending in a Post-COVID-19 World

Seizing on Weakness: Allied Strategy for Competing With China’s Globalizing Military

Selective Disclosure: A Strategic Approach to Long-Term Competition

Which Way the Dragon? Sharpening Allied Perceptions of China’s Strategic Trajectory

Uncovering China’s Influence in Europe: How Friendship Groups Coopt European Elites

Dragon Against the Sun: Chinese Views of Japanese Seapower