Dedicated to the Safety and Security of the Nation

One Mission, One Approach

CNA is an independent, nonprofit research and analysis organization dedicated to the safety and security of the nation. For 80 years, our scientific rigor and real-world approach to data have been indispensable to leaders facing complex problems.

The Center for Naval Analyses informs the decisions of Navy, Marine Corps and DOD leaders as the Department of the Navy’s federally funded research and development center, or FFRDC. CNA’s unique Field Program embeds scientists in commands around the world. Our analytical expertise ranges from great power competition to fighter pilot tactics.

The Institute for Public Research helps federal, state and local leaders address their most difficult challenges, from eliminating racial bias in policing to recovering from hurricanes. Our analysts have expertise in justice, public health, emergency response and other critical fields. The FAA, FEMA, DHS and DOJ have worked with CNA for decades.

Nuclear Research

CNA analysts have decades of experience working on the world’s most challenging and pressing nuclear weapons policy and strategy issues. Our most recent report, Working with the Adversary: Great Power Cooperation and Nuclear Risk Management, provides practical guidance on when great power cooperation might work and how to increase the odds of success.

Featured

Next Generation Leadership and Implications for Special Operations Forces

We examine the potential implications of cross-generational leadership issues for the future of special operations forces (SOF).

Intersections: Technology, National Security, and US-China Strategic Competition

Intersections, a limited-series news digest, takes a deep dive into the People’s Republic of China’s techniques for accessing foreign technology and risks that these acquisition efforts pose to the U.S. defense industrial base.

PRC Spy Balloon Reveals New Arena of Strategic Competition

The overflight of the People’s Republic of China spy balloon incident evokes memories of the Cold War and highlights the tense environment in which strategic competition between the US and the PRC is taking place.

SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE – A PUGET SOUND CASE STUDY

The Puget Sound region built public-private relationships for grocery supply chain resilience to prepare for earthquakes. COVID put them to the test.

Field Program

Run by CNA's Operations Evaluation Group (OEG) and Marine Corps Program, the Field Program deploys analysts for two to three years to posts ranging from aircraft carrier strike groups and Marine expeditionary forces to the U.S. Pacific Command.