Publications
"Nobody does defense policy better than CSBA. Their work on strategic and budgetary topics manages to combine first-rate quality and in-depth research with timeliness and accessibility—which is why so many professionals consider their products indispensable." – Gideon Rose, Editor of Foreign Affairs, 2010-2021
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Testimonies
Statement Before the House Armed Services Committee: The Department of Defense’s Role in Long-Term Major State Competition
On February 11, 2020, CSBA President and CEO Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services (HASC). Dr. Mahnken was invited to appear before the HASC to deliver his observations on current Defense Department (DoD) priorities, the National Defense Strategy Commission, and the investments and other requirements to enable the United States to succeed in the current era of Great Power competition.
Studies
Five Priorities for the Air Force’s Future Combat Air Force
The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) calls for increasing the capacity, lethality, and survivability of the joint force in future contested threat environments. CSBA’s report recommends five priorities for the USAF’s combat air force (CAF) that support these objectives.
Studies
Stealing a March: Chinese Hybrid Warfare in the Indo-Pacific; Issues and Options for Allied Defense Planners
Stealing a March: Chinese Hybrid Warfare in the Indo-Pacific: Issues and Options for Allied Defense Planners examines Beijing’s hybrid warfare campaigns, their origins, means and modes, level of success and possible future shape. It also assesses the primary options for U.S. and allied counter-strategy.
Studies
Winning Without Fighting: Chinese and Russian Political Warfare Campaigns and How the West Can Prevail
Winning Without Fighting: Chinese and Russian Political Warfare Campaigns and How the West Can Prevail assesses the role of political warfare in Chinese and Russian strategy. The report goes beyond diagnosing the challenge to offer a range of potential allied counter-strategies and proposes a new conceptual approach to such thinking.
Testimonies
Statement before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on A “World-Class” Military: Assessing China’s Global Military Ambitions
Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in a hearing on “A ‘World-Class' Military: Assessing China’s Global Military Ambitions” on June 20, 2019.
Studies
Tightening the Chain: Implementing a Strategy of Maritime Pressure in the Western Pacific
CSBA describes the strategy, operational concepts, and resource investments needed to counter Chinese aggression in the Western Pacific. The report is the latest CSBA effort to describe the operational concepts the United States and its allies will need if they are to compete and win in an era of great power competition.