Kathleen McInnis

Kathleen J. McInnis is director of the Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Her research areas include the intersection of gender and national security; global security strategy; defense policy; and transatlantic security. Before rejoining the Center, she served as a specialist in international security at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), where she served as a senior expert to Congress on strategic issues including defense policy, military operations, civilian-military relations, irregular warfare, and global strategy. Prior to CRS, she worked as a research consultant at Chatham House in London, writing on NATO and transatlantic security matters. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. McInnis served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy), working on NATO operations in Afghanistan. During her last time working at CSIS from 2004 to 2006, Dr. McInnis analyzed U.S. nuclear weapons strategy, European security, and transatlantic relations. She also worked as a researcher in the UK House of Commons, focusing on NATO, the European Union, and U.S.-UK political-military relations, from 2001 to 2003. Dr. McInnis is widely published; her articles have featured in major domestic and international outlets. She is the author of two books: How and Why States Defect from Contemporary Military Coalition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) and the novel The Heart of War: Misadventures in the Pentagon (Post Hill Press, 2018). Dr. McInnis was awarded her MSc in international relations from the London School of Economics and completed her PhD in war studies at King’s College London.
Media Queries
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In the News 8 of 24 results
Hegseth announces he’s ending Pentagon involvement in Trump initiative empowering women championed by Ivanka Trump and Rubio
Kathleen McInnis cited in CNN — April 29, 2025
Hegseth says he will scrap "woke" program signed into law by Trump in 2017
Kathleen McInnis cited in CBS — April 29, 2025
Pete Hegseth’s Narrowing Chances for Defense Post Now Turn on Ernst
Kathleen McInnis in Bloomberg — December 4, 2024
Gender Wars Are an Early Warning Sign for Authoritarianism
Kathleen McInnis in Foreign Policy — November 19, 2024
Trump May Further Test US Military Norms In Second Term
Kathleen McInnis in Barron's — November 6, 2024
Washington Roundtable Oct 18, ’24
Kathleen McInnis in Defense & Aerospace Report — October 18, 2024
How to Sell NATO to Gen Z
Kathleen McInnis in Foreign Policy — July 10, 2024
The consequences of Trump's NATO comments
Kathleen McInnis in NPR — February 11, 2024
All Kathleen McInnis Content
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Why We Need Women in Special Forces
Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — May 14, 2025

Trust the Work, Trust Yourself
Event — April 30, 2025
Trust the Work, Trust Yourself
Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — April 30, 2025

Whole of Society Resilience Lessons from Russia-Ukraine | Conflict in Focus
Event — April 17, 2025
Whole of Society Resilience Lessons from Russia-Ukraine
Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — April 17, 2025

Securing Cyber and Space: How the United States Can Disrupt China’s Blockade Plans
Commentary by Benjamin Jensen, Erica Lonergan, and Kathleen McInnis — March 20, 2025
Securing Cyber and Space: How the United States Can Disrupt China’s Blockade Plans
Podcast Episode by Benjamin Jensen, Erica Lonergan, and Kathleen McInnis — March 20, 2025

How Interagency Campaigns Can Counter Chinese Gray Zone Incursions in the Pacific
Commentary by Benjamin Jensen, Kathleen McInnis, and Audrey Aldisert — March 13, 2025
Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania
Commentary by Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen — March 13, 2025
Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania
Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen — March 13, 2025
