Cynthia Cook

Director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and Senior Fellow, International Security Program
Cynthia Cook

Cynthia Cook is director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She is widely published on defense acquisition policy and organization, the defense industrial base, new technology development, and weapon systems production and sustainment. Dr. Cook is a member of the editorial board for the Defense Acquisition Research Journal and is an adjunct professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. From 1997 to 2021, Dr. Cook worked as a senior management scientist at RAND, where she served as the director of the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center and managed a wide range of studies for components across the U.S. Department of Defense, along with the Australian Department of Defense and the UK Ministry of Defense. Previously, Dr. Cook was a research specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working on the Lean Aerospace Initiative. Before her graduate studies, Dr. Cook worked in New York as an investment banker, specializing in high-yield finance. She holds a PhD in sociology from Harvard University and a BS in management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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Building a Mutually Complementary Supply Chain between Japan and the United States

Japan’s recent increases in defense spending and relaxation of defense export rules have prompted a new era of opportunity in defense industrial cooperation with the United States, specifically in the realm of uncrewed aerial systems and electro-optical sensors.

Report by Christopher B. Johnstone, Cynthia Cook, Audrey Aldisert, Leah Klaas, Christine Michienzi, Gregg Rubinstein, Gregory Sanders, and Nicholas Szechenyi — August 15, 2024

Audio Briefs

Recruiting Friends for the Polar Icebreaker Express: Viewing the ICE Pact through Broader Defense Industrial Cooperation

An audio version of “Recruiting Friends for the Polar Icebreaker Express: Viewing the ICE Pact through Broader Defense Industrial Cooperation,” a new Critical Questions by CSIS’s Katy Buda, Gregory Sanders, and Cynthia Cook. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs. 

Podcast Episode by Katy Buda, Gregory Sanders, and Cynthia Cook — August 1, 2024

Audio Briefs
Audio Briefs

Readying NATO’s Defense Industrial Base for Its 100th Anniversary

An audio version of “Readying NATO’s Defense Industrial Base for Its 100th Anniversary,” a new commentary by CSIS’s Audrey Aldisert and Cynthia Cook. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs. 

Podcast Episode by Audrey Aldisert and Cynthia Cook — July 10, 2024

Audio Briefs

Readying NATO’s Defense Industrial Base for Its 100th Anniversary

In the future, NATO’s success will hinge on its ability to unify and modernize its defense industrial base, ensuring that allies can swiftly codevelop, coproduce, and maintain the interoperable systems needed to meet emerging threats.

Commentary by Audrey Aldisert and Cynthia Cook — July 8, 2024

Report Launch: Is NATO Ready for War?

Join the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia program and the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group for the report launch of “Is NATO Ready for War? An Assessment of NATO Allies’ Efforts to Strengthen Defense and Deterrence since the Madrid Summit.”  

Event — June 11, 2024

Is NATO Ready for War?

Allied leaders will soon gather in Washington for NATO’s 75th anniversary summit. Ahead of that historic meeting, this paper takes stock of the progress allies have made to strengthen their deterrence and defense since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Report by Sean Monaghan, Eskil Jakobsen, Sissy Martinez, Mathieu Droin, Gregory Sanders, Nicholas Velazquez, Cynthia Cook, Anna Dowd, and Maeve Sockwell — June 11, 2024