Kurt Campbell, one of the key architects of the Obama administration's Asia "pivot," has left the State Department and is set to be the next chairman of the board at the Center for a New American Security, the think tank he helped found in 2008, multiple sources told The Cable.
Campbell will be joined on the CNAS board by Michèle Flournoy, the former undersecretary of defense for policy, who was the founding president of CNAS when Campbell was the founding CEO. Campbell's last day at State was last Friday. Flournoy attended his goodbye party in the State Department's diplomatic reception room, where a hot topic of discussion was who will replace Campbell as the State Department's top Asia official.Here is the current list of the Board of Directors at CNAS. Richard Danzig is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors at CNAS.
In the recently released University of Pennsylvania think tank rankings, CNAS was ranked as the 14th best think tank in the US. It was also ranked as the 24th best security and international affairs think tank in the world. It was ranked 25th in the world in terms of think tanks having the most significant impact on public policy.
It was also ranked 18th in the world in terms of best use of the Internet or social media. It was ranked as the 21st best think tank in terms of best use of media (print or electronic). CNAS was also ranked as the 20th best think tank in terms of best external relations/public engagement program.
As Think Tank Watch previously reported, there has been speculation that Campbell's wife, Lael Brainard, a former Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, could become the next US Trade Representative (USTR).