Mary Chesnut
Associate Research Analyst

BIOGRAPHY

Mary Chesnut is an expert with CNA's Adversary Analytics team, where she is a member of the Russia Studies Program. Her areas of research include Russian strategy and foreign policy, and nuclear weapons.

Prior to joining CNA, Chesnut was the Program Manager of the Nuclear Security Working Group (NSWG), a nonpartisan organization at George Washington University that is devoted to providing Congress with unbiased expertise on issues ranging from nuclear deterrence to nonproliferation. Chesnut was a member of the 2019 CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Nuclear Scholars Initiative.

Chesnut holds a Master's in National Security Studies from the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. She earned a Bachelor's in Russian Studies at Rhodes College, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa. She speaks Russian.

RECENT NEWS

Mary Chesnut writes, "Due to a societal perception of women that permeates the highest levels of Ministry of Defense, the role of women in the Russian Armed Forces remains limited and gendered."

CSIS: "Women in the Russian Military"