Michèle Flournoy is cofounder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors, and a cofounder, former CEO, and now chair of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
Flournoy served as the undersecretary of defense for policy from February 2009 to February 2012. She was the principal advisor to the secretary of defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. She led the development of the U.S. Department of Defense’s 2012 Strategic Guidance and represented the department in dozens of foreign engagements, in the media and before Congress.
Prior to confirmation, Flournoy co-led President Obama’s transition team at the Defense Department. In January 2007, Flournoy cofounded CNAS, a bipartisan think tank dedicated to developing strong, pragmatic, and principled national security policies. She served as CNAS’s president until 2009 and returned as CEO in 2014. In 2017, she cofounded WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm.
Flournoy serves on the boards of CNAS, Booz Allen Hamilton, Amida Technology Solutions, The Mission Continues, and CARE. She is a senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a current member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group, and a former member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the CIA Director’s External Advisory Board, and the Defense Policy Board.
Flournoy earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from Balliol College, Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar. She is based in Washington, DC.
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FeaturedInternational efforts, such as the Paris Agreement, aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But experts say countries aren’t doing enough to limit dangerous global warming.
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FeaturedIntroduction Throughout its decades of independence, Myanmar has struggled with military rule, civil war, poor governance, and widespread poverty. A military coup in February 2021 dashed hopes for…
Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland January 31, 2022
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Explainers
FeaturedDuring the 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden promised that his administration would make a “historic effort” to reduce long-running racial inequities in health. Tobacco use—the leading cause of p…
Interactive by Olivia Angelino, Thomas J. Bollyky, Elle Ruggiero and Isabella Turilli February 1, 2023 Global Health Program
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Research & Analysis
FeaturedPresident Donald Trump has promised to enact sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners. At a September campaign event in Pennsylvania he stated, “I don’t need Congress” to impose tariffs, “I have…
Report by Inu Manak and Helena Kopans-Johnson February 4, 2025 Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies
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Webinar with Carolyn Kissane and Irina A. Faskianos April 12, 2023
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FeaturedTech leader Reid Hoffman shares his insider’s perspective on an AI-powered future and its transformative potential to improve lives and create positive change. The Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Annual Lecture on Science and Technology addresses issues at the intersection of science, technology, and foreign policy. It has been endowed in perpetuity through a gift from CFR members Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener.
Virtual Event with Reid Hoffman and Deven J. Parekh January 30, 2025
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