CNAS announces inaugural "next generation" class

The Center for a New American Security, the plugged-in Washington think tank that has had a slate of associates join the Obama administration, has announced those selected to be in its first class of "next generation national security leaders."

The two dozen under-35 national security up-and-comers will participate in a series of discussions led by Lt. Col. John Nagl (U.S. Army, Ret.), the CNAS president and counterinsurgency guru, and Steve Biegun, a CNAS board member and Ford Motor Company's vice president for international affairs, on various national-security topics: Afghanistan and Pakistan (CNAS fellow Vikram Singh has become a South Asian special advisor to CNAS cofounder turned Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy and has since become DoD's special rep to envoy Richard Holbrooke's team), Asia-Pacific security issues (CNAS cofounder Kurt Campbell has become assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs), the national-security consequences of resource dependence, and other topics.

The 24 CNAS NextGen leaders selected out of 450 applicants are:

• Jasmeet Ahuja, professional staff member, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
• Anika Binnendijk, special assistant, international security affairs, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
• Barret Bradstreet, doctoral candidate, Princeton University
• Samuel Charap, associate director for the Russia and Eurasia program, Center for American Progress
• Marissa Doran, professional staff member, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
• Guy Filippelli, CEO, Berico Technologies
• Kelly Howard, special assistant to the chief of staff of the Army, U.S. Department of Defense
• Church Hutton, minority professional staff member, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee
• Mara Karlin, instructor and doctoral candidate, Johns Hopkins University
• Peter Lohman, Foreign Service officer, U.S. Department of State
• Jim Mitre, foreign affairs specialist, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy
• Marisa Paul, senior analyst, Northrop Grumman
• Elizabeth Prescott, professor, Georgetown University
• Emelia Probasco, special assistant, U.S. Navy
• Adi Raval, senior White House producer, BBC
• Kaleb Redden, director for building global partnerships, Office of the Secretary of Defense
• David Rittgers, legal policy analyst, Cato Institute
• Stephen Rubright, military legislative assistant and foreign-policy advisor, Office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
• Abby Ruscetta, congressional appropriations liason, secretary of the Air Force staff
• Anthony Russell, lieutenant commander, U.S. Coast Guard
• Timothy Strabbing, special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, U.S. Department of Defense
• Tim Sullivan, research fellow, American Enterprise Institute
• Caitlan Talmadge, doctoral candidate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and visiting fellow, Georgetown University
• Eric Young, manager of strategic development, Boeing Network and Space Systems