Monday, November 4, 2013

Shakeup on the CNAS Board

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) announced major changes today to its Board of Directors.

William Perry and Madeleine Albright have been named Directors Emeriti, and three new people have been named to the Board: Gen. John Allen, Linda Hudson (outgoing President and CEO of BAE Systems), and former Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

Here is how Defense News describes the changes:
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) quickly has become a top Washington national security think tank. And on Monday morning, it offered the latest glimpse why.
The organization announced it is adding a handful of heavy hitters to its board of directors, including former Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, outgoing BAE Systems CEO Linda Hudson and former Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
The moves give the relatively young think tank further inroads to the Obama administration. Its two board co-chairs are former Obama administration officials, and Allen ran the Afghanistan war under President Barack Obama. Lieberman was more ally than irritant to the White House before he left the Senate, and Hudson worked closely with senior Pentagon leaders as head of BAE.
The Hill newspaper says that the additions "will add to the clout of the centrist defense think tank."

Back in March of this year, former Sen. Lieberman joined the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).  Back in June, Gen. Allen joined the Brookings Institution.

A list of CNAS Board of Directors can be found here.  And here is a press release about the new Board.

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.