News

CSBA CEO Thomas G. Mahnken on a New Maritime Strategy for China

February 3, 2022 United States Naval Institute

The February 2022 issue of Proceedings, the journal of the United States Naval Institute, features an article by Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken, President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), as part of its ongoing American Sea Power Project. In “A Maritime Strategy to Deal with China,” Dr. Mahnken assesses the current deficit of U.S. strategic thinking about the PRC and argues that a maritime strategy for China should seek to address those elements of Chinese behavior that are of greatest concern to the United States and its allies.

CSBA Welcomes New Congressional Defense Seminar Series Fellows

October 21, 2021

CSBA is proud to announce a new cohort of fellows for the CSBA Congressional Defense Seminar Series. This seminar series is an in-depth bipartisan program for Congressional staff members. This evening series of topical seminars aim to provide staffers with the tools to master the conceptual foundations of defense policy as well as the intricacies of contemporary national security processes.

CSBA Releases Report on Strategic Value of American Energy Resources, Announces Rollout Event

August 30, 2021

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments has published its most recent report, Mind the Power Gap: The American Energy Arsenal and Chinese Insecurity, by Christopher Bassler and Ben Noon. The authors assess the security implications of the United States' energy portfolio in relation to China's efforts to expand its own energy assets and position itself as a producer of clean energy. While the U.S. energy resource base is not without vulnerabilities--which the authors discuss, along with potential solutions--they argue that the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to build a secure, robust energy sector have been comparatively uneven, as it continues to rely upon imported fossil fuels and suffers from numerous related environmental and public health consequences.

CSBA Welcomes New Members of Its Research and Operations Team

August 10, 2021

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), one of the nation’s premier centers for understanding the future of competition and conflict, recently bolstered its analytical and management capabilities with the addition of five new staff members. According to Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken, President and CEO of CSBA, “We are delighted to have these outstanding new members on the CSBA team. Working with our existing staff, each will materially help us respond to the growing demand for CSBA’s insight and expertise across the national security community.”

Studies

The Decisive Decade: United States–China Competition in Defense Innovation and Defense Industrial Policy in and Beyond the 2020s

May 22, 2023 Thomas G. Mahnken, Tai Ming Cheung

In the long-term competition between the United States and China, the competitive edge will be decided not only by who more effectively fields current capabilities and strategies, but also by which state's techno-security system can most effectively develop and field new technologies for strategic, dual-use, and defense applications. Although both states recognize the need to prevail in the techno-security competition, the two have drastically different approaches to defense innovation and defense industrial policy.

Studies

Speeding Toward Instability? Hypersonic Weapons and the Risks of Nuclear Use

May 1, 2023 Evan B. Montgomery, Toshi Yoshihara

Today, states are pursuing an array of supposedly "disruptive" or "game-changing" technologies that could alter how they organize, train, equip, and employ their forces, including their nuclear forces. The 2022 National Defense Strategy emphasized the link between some of these technologies and the risk of nuclear use, noting that "a wide range of new or fast-evolving technologies and applications are complicating escalation dynamics and creating new challenges for strategic stability."

Briefs

2022 Annual Report

April 21, 2023

For nearly three decades, CSBA has provided consistent, high-quality, and innovative research on defense strategy, budgets, and the security environment.

Briefs

Big Centralization, Small Bets, and the Warfighting Implications of Middling Progress: Three Concerns about JADC2’s Trajectory

April 18, 2023 Travis Sharp, Tyler Hacker

Warfare has always been a contest of incomplete information and imperfect control, with each side straining to find the enemy in an unfavorable position and coordinate his destruction. Although the technologies used to surveil, communicate, and attack have changed throughout history, the advantages gained from scouting and synchronizing more effectively than one’s opponent have endured. Stripped of its jargon, the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) vision of integrating sensors and shooters comprises merely the latest Pentagon effort to provide U.S. forces with the timeless military advantages of superior information and control. This basic thrust of JADC2 represents a vital objective worth pursuing – even if the idealized outcome, fully integrated C2, likely remains as unattainable today as when the epigram appeared 60 years ago.

Testimonies

Testimony to the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Regional Nuclear Deterrence

April 3, 2023 Evan B. Montgomery

On March 28, 2023, CSBA Senior Fellow and Director of Research and Studies, Dr. Evan B. Montgomery, testified before the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services' Subcommittee on Strategic Forces regarding regional nuclear deterrence.

Studies

Air Power Metamorphosis: Rethinking Air Force Combat Force Modernization

March 10, 2023 Christopher J. Bowie

For the past three decades, Chinese leadership has closely studied the United States’ power projection capabilities and concept of operations. Consequently, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has tailored its anti-access/area denial approach and air defenses to prevent the United States from leveraging its current strengths. A short- or medium-range concept of air power is unlikely to be successful for power projection or deterrence in the Western Pacific, and a change in direction for the U.S. Air Force is likely necessary.

Speeding Toward Instability? Hypersonic Weapons and the Risks of Nuclear Use

Air Power Metamorphosis: Rethinking Air Force Combat Force Modernization

Innovating for Great Power Competition: An Examination of Service and Joint Innovation Efforts

Chinese Lessons From the Pacific War: Implications for PLA Warfighting

Moving Pieces: Near-Term Changes to Pacific Air Posture

Arming America’s Allies: Historical Lessons for Implementing a Post-INF Treaty Missile Strategy

Rings of Fire: A Conventional Missile Strategy for a Post-INF Treaty World

Featured Event

Report Release Webinar: Chinese Lessons From the Pacific War: Implications for PLA Warfighting

CSBA CEO Thomas G. Mahnken on a New Maritime Strategy for China

CSBA Welcomes New Congressional Defense Seminar Series Fellows

CSBA Releases Report on History’s Lessons for Contemporary Arms Control Policy

CSBA Welcomes Three New Senior Fellows

CSBA Releases Report on Strategic Value of American Energy Resources, Announces Rollout Event

CSBA Welcomes New Members of Its Research and Operations Team

Latest Publications

The Decisive Decade: United States–China Competition in Defense Innovation and Defense Industrial Policy in and Beyond the 2020s

Speeding Toward Instability? Hypersonic Weapons and the Risks of Nuclear Use

2022 Annual Report

Big Centralization, Small Bets, and the Warfighting Implications of Middling Progress: Three Concerns about JADC2’s Trajectory

Testimony to the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Regional Nuclear Deterrence

Air Power Metamorphosis: Rethinking Air Force Combat Force Modernization