Plans and Strategy

CNA complements its expertise in tactics and operations with a sophisticated understanding of the strategic issues facing leaders at the highest levels. Our scientific analysts have long been trusted advisors to the Chief of Naval Operations and the Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations. CNA employs military historians, former admirals, nuclear diplomacy specialists, and experts in international relations and the law of the sea.

Our analyses have informed some of the most renowned naval planning documents of past decades. These include Sea Plan 2000, the Maritime Strategy of the 1980s, Project SIXTY, Forward . . . From the Sea, The Way Ahead, A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, and Advantage at Sea. CNA experts in plans and strategy are currently supporting the development of the National Defense Strategy.

Related Capabilities

Onsite Analysis

Open-Source Intelligence

Wargaming

Historical Paper Series

Considerations for US Naval and Military Strategy

These landmark CNA papers on the history of U.S. naval strategy were written across two decades by naval strategist Peter Swartz, winner of the Naval Historical Foundation’s Knox Medal for lifetime achievement in naval history.

Nuclear Research

CNA analysts have decades of experience working on the world’s most challenging and pressing nuclear weapons policy and strategy issues.

Reimagining Defense Strategy

Highlights from a CNA National Security Seminar featuring Christian Brose, former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee and author of The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare.

The Collapse of Cold War Naval Strategic Planning

CNA analysts Dr. Bill Rosenau and Dr. Josh Tallis speak with Dr. Steve Wills about his new book, Strategy Shelved: The Collapse of Cold War Naval Strategic Planning.

Why Special Operations?

Dr. Jonathan Schroden explains why special operations forces are uniquely suited to difficult policy problems requiring unorthodox solutions. The answer lies in the consideration of risk.

Why Are Special Operations Ever Conducted?

Why Special Operations? A Risk-Based Theory

Preparing for Tomorrow’s Threats: Overcoming Obstacles to Organize, Adapt, and Innovate

Insights from a CNA-moderated National Security Seminar about obstacles to innovation, featuring leaders from the Pentagon and National Defense University, including former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Conway.

The Future of US Alliances and Partnerships: A Data Science Approach

CNA data scientists and political strategists came together to develop machine-learning models that quantify connections between the United States and its allies, partners and adversaries.

Maritime Security and Great Power Competition: Maintaining the US-Led International Order

Maritime security operations support national strategy by sustaining and enforcing the rule of law and good order at sea. This avoids corrosion of the US-led system by both greater and lesser powers, with distinct implications for Navy policy.

Getting the Fait Accompli Problem Right in U.S. Strategy

Michael Kofman writes in War on the Rocks that the fait accompli has become somewhat of a boogeyman among strategists. While U.S. defense strategy should address the challenge of faits accomplis, it should not assume adversaries will use the strategy to conquer American allies.

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