Friday, May 2, 2014

Michele Flournoy Named CEO of CNAS; New Board Members Named

On May 1 the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) announced that Michele Flournoy will become the think tank's new CEO.

She replaces former CNAS CEO Robert Work, who was confirmed this week as the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Flournoy, a co-founder of CNAS, served as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy from 2009-2012.

CNAS also announced the selection of four new members to the think tank's Board: David Hogen, Lewis Kaden, William Kennard, and David Schwimmer.

Kurt Campbell, the other co-founder of CNAS, remains Chairman of the Board of Directors at the think tank.

CNAS, which has extremely close ties to the Obama Administration, acts both as a talent pool for DoD and as a landing pad for former DoD officials.

In an interview with Foreign Policy (FP), Flournoy said that her short-term plans for the think tank are to have a "sizeable impact on the 2016 elections."  FP describes CNAS as a "clearinghouse for middle-of-the-road foreign policy views" and a "minor league team for the Obama Administration."  Flournoy said that the think tank hopes to help both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.

In the recently-released University of Pennsylvania think tank rankings, CNAS was rated as the 14th best think tank in the United States.