Think Tank Expert Forced to Withdraw From Pentagon Think Tank

Here is what the Washington Post is reporting about Patrick Cronin, Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS):

Patrick Cronin, a widely respected Asia analyst who had been selected to run a Pentagon-funded think tank, turned down the position under pressure because he had signed a letter last year opposing President Trump’s candidacy, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the matter.

Cronin was chosen to oversee the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hono­lulu on Jan. 17, three days before Trump assumed the presidency. His forced withdrawal is unusual because the position is not a political appointment.

Cronin was selected to run the Asia-Pacific Center by a three-member panel that consisted of representatives from the U.S. military and the Pentagon’s civilian leadership.

Cronin, a Republican who has worked closely with national security adviser H.R. McMaster, was preparing for the move to Hawaii when an article in the Washington Times described him as a “liberal” and noted that he was among 122 Republican national security officials who had signed a letter opposing then-candidate Trump. 

This is the latest example of think tankers who signed "Never Trump" letters that are now being snubbed by the Trump Administration.

For those interested in working at the Hawaiian think tank, here is the website of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS). 

Here is more on the history of the think tank, which is located in Honolulu and is just steps away from the beach and ocean.

Fun fact: Hawaii has 12 think tanks (more think tanks than 19 other US states).

Top-Level Think Tankers Being Ignored by Trump Team

The numerous think tank scholars who signed anti-Trump pledges that had been circulating around for several months are now feeling the repercussions deeply.  Here is more from the Washington Post:

They are some of the biggest names in the Republican national security firmament, veterans of past GOP administrations who say, if called upon by President-elect Donald Trump, they stand ready to serve their country again.

But their phones aren’t ringing. Their entreaties to Trump Tower in New York have mostly gone unanswered. In Trump world, these establishment all-stars say they are “PNG” — personae non gratae.

Their transgression was signing one or both of two public “Never Trump” letters during the campaign, declaring they would not vote for Trump and calling his candidacy a danger to the nation.

One letter, with 122 names, was published by War on the Rocks, a website devoted to national security commentary, during the primary season in March. The other, with 50 names, including some repeat signatories, was published by the New York Times during the general-election campaign in August.

Now, just days before Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 45th president, the letter signers fear they have been added to another document, this one private — a purported blacklist compiled by Trump’s political advisers.

...The purportedly blacklisted figures report to their jobs at Washington law firms and think tanks in a state of indefinite limbo as their colleagues, some working in the same offices, are flirting with potential administration jobs.

The article goes on to note that the Trump transition team held a private briefing for secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson to prepare him for his Senate confirmation hearing.  But an unnamed former Bush national security official who works at a think tank said that some of his younger staff assistants were invited to participate but he was not.  The reason?  Likely retribution for signing an anti-Trump letter.

Think Tank Watch wrote about the "Never Trump" letters early last year.

But people who signed those letters are not the only think tankers who may be left out in the cold as the Trump Administration takes office.  After all, it is looking increasingly likely that Mr. Trump will largely ignore the *entire* think tank community as he favors businessmen over scholars.