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Press Releases

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.

Press Releases

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

September 22, 2021

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), one of the nation’s premier centers for understanding competition and conflict, this week released Arms Control: Can Its Future Be Found in Its Past?, by CSBA Counselor Amb. Eric S. Edelman.

Press Releases

CSBA Welcomes Three New Senior Fellows

September 16, 2021

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) today announced the appointment of its newest non-resident senior fellows, adding to its team of world-class defense and security analysts.

Press Releases

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.

Press Releases

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.”

Press Releases

CSBA’s Analysis of the 2022 Defense Budget Request

July 30, 2021

In this report, CSBA Fellow and Director of Defense Budget Studies Travis Sharp analyzes the FY 2022 Defense Department Budget Request with a focus not only on comparisons with the previous administration's defense budgets but also on the insights into the current and future strategic priorities for the Biden Administration.

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

Following nearly two decades of counterinsurgency in the Greater Middle East, the United States Department of Defense finds itself looking to the Cold War for lessons on how to adapt to the operational challenges presented by China and Russia. To modernize its platforms, doctrine, and force structure to compete with and defeat 21st-century great power competitors, the military services and the Department of Defense as a whole are seeking to promote conceptual, organizational, and technological innovation within the U.S. armed forces.

Chinese Lessons From the Pacific War: Implications for PLA Warfighting

Senior Fellow Toshi Yoshihara surveys Chinese histories of the Pacific War to discern lessons that mainland analysts have drawn from the ocean-spanning struggle. He examines the extensive Chinese-language literature on the great battles at Midway, Guadalcanal, and Okinawa and pinpoints the operational insights that Chinese strategists have gleaned from them. The selected campaigns involved warfighting that will feature prominently in a future Sino-American conflict: carrier air warfare, contested amphibious landings, expeditionary logistics, and electronic warfare.

Moving Pieces: Near-Term Changes to Pacific Air Posture

The threat to U.S. and allied air facilities in the Indo-Pacific region is increasing. Current air force posture is vulnerable to adversary first strike due to insufficient posture resiliency—the ability of deployed forces to survive, operate, and regenerate under adversary attack. The recently announced decision to replace the permanent F-15C Eagle squadrons at Kadena Air Base with a rotational deployment only reduces the effectiveness of U.S. Indo-Pacific air forces in the event of a conflict. Defense planning in recent years has outlined recommendations to improve the defense of both facilities and others in the region, but these recommendations have only been partially implemented at best.

Testimony before the Senate Committee on Armed Services Regarding Nuclear Strategy and Policy

September 21, 2022 Eric Edelman

On September 20, 2022, CSBA Counselor, Eric S. Edelman and Franklin C. Miller, Principal at The Scowcroft Group, testified before the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services regarding nuclear strategy and policy.

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

In the aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper indicated that he believed it would be useful to deploy conventional intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the Indo-Pacific region. But it is not yet clear that allied or partner governments in either this region or in Europe would be willing to host such capabilities on their territory.

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

Since its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, the United States has been free to develop new medium and intermediate-range conventional missiles to strengthen its conventional deterrence posture. The military services have tested and fielded a variety of systems that could bolster their long-range strike capabilities and proposed still others. To date, however, Washington lacks a clear path for how the various service initiatives might contribute collectively to a broader precision-strike complex.

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

Deterrence and Defense in the Baltic Region

Featured Event

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

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

CSBA’s Analysis of the 2022 Defense Budget Request

Latest Publications

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

Testimony before the Senate Committee on Armed Services Regarding Nuclear Strategy and Policy

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