CNA Corporation
Project Title
For a project on Russian Military Reconstitution
Date
Sep. 11, 2025
Duration
24 months
Description
Following Moscow’s interventions in Syria and Ukraine, the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), with support from Carnegie,launched a project to revitalize the field of Russian military studies that had been dormant since the end of the Cold War. CNA commissioned reports from emerging experts on Russia’s evolving military capabilities, establishing foundational analyses while cultivating a new generation of specialists. With the Ukraine war reaching a inflection point in summer 2025, CNA will focus itsresearch on Russian military reconstitution, a central topic for the future of the Russian military. Research and analysis will focus on four key components: military manpower growth, weapons production expansion, command structure changes, and the new military elite.
Website
Project Title
For research, analyses, and publications on Russia’s war on Ukraine
Date
Sep. 14, 2023
Duration
24 months
Description
Russia’s war on Ukraine is an event of world historic importance that will influence the course of geopolitics through the 21st century. To date, understanding of the war has lacked a comprehensive approach as most analyses have been focusing on disparate episodes, providing narrow and often competing perspectives. This is due to the lack of accurate information from the ground as well as to inadequate expertise on the Russian military. The Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), a leading non-governmental provider of critical analyses on Russian military capabilities will undertake an extensive assessment of the war and its implications for European security order.With Corporation support, the Program will engage in research, publications, dissemination, and policy and public outreach.
Website
Project Title
For expanding the field of Russian military studies
Date
Jun. 03, 2021
Duration
27 months
Description
After the Cold War, funding for Russian military studies declined rapidly in the United States and other Western countries. As a result, many of the public and private organizations previously dedicated to Soviet military studies shifted their resources to other security challenges and concerns. Recognizing this situation, the Corporation made an initial grant in 2017 to the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA) to help revive the U.S. expertise in Russian military affairs through a set of research, engagement, and outreach efforts. With renewed support, CNA will continue the field-building activities, resulting in published articles, expert workshops, and an edited volume on various aspects of Russia’s military strategy.
Website
Project Title
For expanding the field of Russian military studies
Date
Jun. 13, 2019
Duration
24 months
Description
American understanding of Russian military strategy, capabilities, and intentions declined following the end of the Cold War. The need for such knowledge has become acutely apparent as the United States and Russia have entered a period of declared strategic competition. The growing risks of U.S.-Russian military tensions and confrontations calls for in-depth understanding, assessments, and interpretations of the Russia military. The Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) intends to strengthen the field of Russian military studies in the United States through policy-relevant research, publications, public events, and engagement with the Russian analytical community.
Website
Project Title
For a project on U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control risks and policy options
Date
Mar. 08, 2018
Duration
40 months
Description
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) will expire in the next decade, with no replacement treaty on the horizon. Understanding the risks of a world without nuclear arms control could help policymakers in the United States and Russia weigh policy trade-offs, especially in an environment of politicized debates. To address this, the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) will assess what U.S.-Russia strategic stability would look like in a post-arms-control world. The research team will examine the risks for the United States and Russia if they do not replace the treaty, and will explore whether non-binding measures could mitigate these risks. The project will develop a portfolio of options for sustaining stability in the absence of binding limits and verification protocols, and will result in policy-relevant recommendations and publications.
Website
Project Title
For a project to promote new research and build a community of experts on the Russian military
Date
Jun. 01, 2017
Duration
24 months
Description
The U.S. understanding of Russian military strategy, capabilities, and intentions has declined following the end of the Cold War. The need for such knowledge has become acutely apparent as the United States and Russia have reentered a period of adversarial relations. The growing risks of U.S.-Russian military tensions and confrontations calls for in-depth understanding, assessments, and interpretations of the Russia military. It also calls for developing contacts between the U.S. and Russian military analytical communities within the realm of possibilities in the political climate of the two countries. The Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) intends to strengthen the field of Russian military studies in the United States through policy-relevant research, outreach, publications, and working group meetings.