Nilanthi Samaranayake

Nilanthi Samaranayake is Director of the Strategy and Policy Analysis Program at CNA, a non-profit research organization in Arlington, VA. She leads a team of analysts who conduct research and analysis for civilian and military leaders on maritime strategy, nuclear policy, alliance management, Arctic strategy and policy, and non-traditional security. She is also an Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, D.C.

Samaranayake examines Indian Ocean and South Asian regional security, U.S. alliances and partnerships, and small states in international affairs. Her analysis has been published in East Asia Forum, Hindustan Times, Defense One, Lawfare, and Newsweek, among other outlets. She has appeared in media such as Bloomberg, CBS, Foreign Policy, New York Times, and Al Jazeera. Samaranayake’s major publications include “Sri Lanka and South Asia” (Routledge, 2022); “Quad Plus: A Role for Indian Ocean Island States?” (Routledge, 2021); “India’s Naval and Maritime Power” (Nomos, 2020); and China’s Engagement with Smaller South Asian Countries (U.S. Institute of Peace, 2019). She is also lead author of Raging Waters: China, India, Bangladesh and Brahmaputra River Politics (Marine Corps University Press, 2018).

She lectures widely at U.S. and overseas research and official institutions, including in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Oman.

Before joining CNA in 2010, Samaranayake completed a fellowship at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) in Seattle and analyzed public opinion for a decade at Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. She holds an MSc International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sub-specialties:

US National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Indo-Pacific Strategy; Indian Ocean security; South Asia security; non-traditional security issues (natural disasters, illegal fishing, climate change, shipping accidents, maritime security)