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. Her research interests include 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 oversaw, led, and worked on 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.
Areas of Expertise
Media Queries
- H. Andrew Schwartz
- Chief Communications Officer
- 202.775.3242
- aschwartz@csis.org
- Paige Montfort
- Assistant Director of Communications, External Relations
- 202.775.3173
- pmontfort@csis.org
In the News
The U.S. Can Afford a Bigger Military. We Just Can’t Build It.
Cynthia Cook in Wall Street Journal — December 6, 2023
Billions in Ukraine defense spending has been slow to translate into U.S. jobs
Cynthia Cook in NBC — October 28, 2023
Israel-Hamas war tests US defence sector already strained by conflict in Ukraine
Mark F. Cancian and Cynthia Cook in Financial Times — October 17, 2023
How to ensure the defense-industrial base and supply chain resiliency
Cynthia Cook in Defense News — September 19, 2023
As Ukraine flies through artillery rounds, U.S. races to keep up
Cynthia Cook in The Washington Post — August 21, 2023
Munitions put into focus as stockpiles dwindle
Cynthia Cook in Financial Times — July 18, 2023
SPECIAL REPORT: Joint All-Domain Command, Control A Journey, Not a Destination
Cynthia Cook in National Defense — July 10, 2023
How to leverage the best of European defense capabilities
Cynthia Cook in Defense News — June 9, 2023
All Cynthia Cook Content
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Acquisition for Innovation: A Conversation with DUSD(A&S), the Honorable Dr. Radha Iyengar Plumb
Event — September 6, 2023
Transatlantic Defense during Wartime
Report by Cynthia Cook Max Bergmann Mark F. Cancian Gregory Sanders Sissy Martinez Otto Svendsen and Nicholas Velazquez — September 5, 2023
Acquisition for Decision Advantage: The Role of the CDAO in Scaling Software Solutions
Event — July 21, 2023
Don’t Blame ‘Just-in-Time’ Production for Challenges in the U.S. Manufacturing Industrial Base
Critical Questions by Cynthia Cook and Audrey Aldisert — July 19, 2023
"European Warfighting Resilience and NATO Race of Logistics": Audio Brief with Cynthia Cook
Podcast Episode by Cynthia Cook — July 13, 2023

Understanding China’s Gallium Sanctions
Critical Questions by Alexander Holderness Nicholas Velazquez Henry H. Carroll and Cynthia Cook — July 7, 2023
Press Briefing: Previewing the NATO Summit in Vilnius
Event — June 29, 2023
European Warfighting Resilience and NATO Race of Logistics: Ensuring That Europe Has the Fuel It Needs to Fight the Next War
Brief by Anna Dowd Dominik P. Jankowski and Cynthia Cook — June 28, 2023
Pausing Proliferation: Facing China's Military Engine Development
Event — April 18, 2023
Global Security Forum 2023: Transatlantic Defense
Event — April 5, 2023