Center for American Security

Policy Priorities

Maintain the America First Tradition in the National Security Profession
Bolster America's Economic Might
Expand America's Unrivaled Military Strength
End Endless Wars and Make Foreign Commitments Strategic
Secure the Southern Border
Eliminate Global Terrorists Who Threaten to Harm Americans

The twin American victories in the Second World War and the Cold War established our country as “the last, best hope for man on Earth.” Freedom’s cause in every part of the globe depends upon a strong America. With our country secure, we can, with greater confidence, advance American security abroad. American security is exemplified by a strong military, fair trade deals, alliances that are equitable, aggressors who are isolated, and those who harm us, destroyed. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) examines American security abroad as a prerequisite for peace at home: always putting American interests first. This includes removing ourselves from endless, unnecessary wars in order to rebuild the homeland, while also understanding our indispensable role in maintaining a world at peace.

The America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security champions Americans rather than a theoretical “America” imagined by the Washington national security establishment. The exercise of American power requires clear justification, and an America First approach ensures that American power is used in the interest of Americans. To advance that goal, the Center looks to ensure that there will be rigorous advancement of policies which will serve as an authentically American alternative to Washington’s increasingly obsolescent foreign and defense policy orthodoxy.

The phrase America First refers to an approach rooted in an awareness of America’s unique role in the world, and its unmatched ability to do best for others when its people are strong, safe, and prosperous. It means that any commitments of American lives or dollars abroad must come with concrete benefits to the American people. Every investment of American resources needs to reap a substantial security benefit.

Team

Lt. General (Ret.) Keith Kellogg

FORMER: Co-Chair, Center for American Security

The Honorable Robert Wilkie

Co-Chair, Center for American Security

The Honorable Fred Fleitz

Vice Chair, Center for American Security

Jacob Olidort, Ph.D.

Director, Center for American Security

Adam Savit

Director, China Policy Initiative

Gloria McDonald

FORMER: Senior Policy Analyst, Center for American Security

Ken Timmerman

Senior Fellow, Center for American Security

Ethan Tan

Policy Analyst

Royce Hood

Policy Analyst, China Policy Initiative

Ryan Nanartowicz

Policy Analyst, Center for American Security

Benjamin Woolsey

Policy Analyst, Center for American Security

Latest

Op-Ed | August 15, 2025

The Trump-Putin Alaska Summit Is About More Than the Ukraine War

Op-Ed | August 8, 2025

How Intelligence Community Analysis Rules Were Flagrantly Violated in the Fraudulent Russia Collusion Intelligence Assessment

A bombshell House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Majority Staff Report recently released by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard explains in detail how the rules for drafting intelligence assessments were deliberately ignored to produce a highly politicized Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) in early January 2017, designed to sabotage the first Trump administration.

| August 6, 2025

Somaliland: A Partner for an America First Africa Approach

Somaliland—the breakaway region in northern Somalia along its border with Ethiopia and Djibouti—is unfamiliar to most Americans, yet this territory could be an anchor for a robust America First approach to Africa

Issue Brief | August 1, 2025

Modernizing Defense Acquisitions: Enforcing President Trump’s Vision for an America First Military

President Donald J. Trump has always put American security first, making the tough calls to keep our nation safe. From creating the United States Space Force (America’s first new military branch in over 70 years) to the April 9, 2025, Executive Order, “Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base,” President Trump has shown that restoring American strength means breaking from the failed status quo and prioritizing results.

Op-Ed | July 25, 2025

Five Crucial Facts From The House Intel Report On 2016 Russian Interference

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did an excellent service to our nation this week when she released a declassified version of a critical September 2020 House Intelligence Committee staff report on a major January 2017 intelligence report, known as an Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), titled “Russia’s Influence Campaign Targeting the 2016 US Presidential Election.”