Kathleen McInnis

Director, Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative and Senior Fellow, Defense and Security Department
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.

Programs & Projects

Areas of Expertise

Media Queries

In the News 8 of 24 results

Show More

All Kathleen McInnis Content

Filter by

1 - 10 of 173 results
Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast

Why We Need Women in Special Forces

Jessica Yahn, executive producer and U.S. Special Operations veteran, joins for a conversation about the human-experience surrounding conflict.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — May 14, 2025

CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power

Trust the Work, Trust Yourself

Dr. Kathleen McInnis sits down with Gargee Ghosh, President of Global Policy & Advocacy at the Gates Foundation, for a conversation about her impactful career and her work driving progress in international development.

Event — April 30, 2025

Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast

Trust the Work, Trust Yourself

Gargee Ghosh, President of Global Policy & Advocacy at the Gates Foundation, joins for a conversation about her impactful career and her work driving progress in international development.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — April 30, 2025

CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power
Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast

Whole of Society Resilience Lessons from Russia-Ukraine

Dr. Kathleen McInnis sits down with Lieutenant Colonel Scott Murphy, visiting U.S. Marine Corps military fellow and Iryna Nykorak, Ukrainian Minister of Parliament, and founder of ArmWomenNow, about the importance of resiliency and how to prepare the entirety of society for conflict.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis — April 17, 2025

CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power
Audio Briefs

Securing Cyber and Space: How the United States Can Disrupt China’s Blockade Plans

An audio version of “Securing Cyber and Space: How the United States Can Disrupt China’s Blockade Plans,” a new commentary by CSIS's Benjamin Jensen and Kathleen McInnis, with Erica Lonergan. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Benjamin Jensen, Erica Lonergan, and Kathleen McInnis — March 20, 2025

Audio Briefs

How Interagency Campaigns Can Counter Chinese Gray Zone Incursions in the Pacific

The Pacific is where China is testing the edges of U.S. resistance by refining its ability to exploit gaps in governance, security, and perception management. The Trump administration has an opportunity to integrate a sustained, proactive approach to deny China the ability to shape the competitive space unchallenged.

Commentary by Benjamin Jensen, Kathleen McInnis, and Audrey Aldisert — March 13, 2025

Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania

The United States has a major vulnerability it needs to address: China is exploiting an immigration loophole in the U.S. territory of Saipan, posing a security and counterintelligence threat to U.S. bases and installations in the region.

Commentary by Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen — March 13, 2025

Audio Briefs

Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania

An audio version of “Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania,” a new commentary by CSIS's Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen — March 13, 2025

Audio Briefs