Navin Girishankar to lead CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a leading Washington think tank, has named Navin Girishankar, a former Indian American senior Commerce Department official as president of its newly created Economic Security and Technology Department.

Girishankar, a World Bank, Bridgewater Associates veteran, is considered one of Washington’s most trusted economic strategists on domestic and international issues, with a unique track record over three decades across government, business, and international finance institutions.

The new department will bring together nearly a dozen CSIS programs to provide government and business leaders with cross-cutting research on economic and technology policies and their critical role in US national security, according to a media release.

The department will focus on areas shaping US industrial strategy and competitiveness in a rapidly evolving geopolitical context—AI and semiconductors; energy security and climate transition; critical minerals; strategic technologies such as digital, quantum, and cybersecurity; trade and investment policies; intellectual property and innovation ecosystems; and economic relations with China and partners around the world.

The department will also convene political, business, and thought leaders to debate the most complex economic security and technology issues facing the United States and its allies.

The department’s creation is part of a broader strategic realignment of CSIS programming, to be formally launched this fall, to better prepare the institution to meet global challenges in the coming decades, according to the release.

“Today, national security is determined as much by global technological and commercial competition as it is by traditional defense. It is essential for the government to integrate these issues into US national security planning and to work collaboratively with the private sector—an untapped resource offering a wealth of expertise on how best to transform our approach to economic security in the 21st century,” said John Hamre, CSIS president and CEO.

“The creation of the Economic Security and Technology Department marks a major commitment by CSIS to lead this policy debate. Navin Girishankar is among Washington’s most trusted economic strategists on domestic and international issues, with a unique track record over three decades across government, business, and the international finance institutions. He is the perfect choice to lead this initiative.”

Girishankar joins CSIS after serving as the senior counselor to the US Deputy Secretary of Commerce since January 2022 on a wide range of domestic and international issues.

In that role, he crafted the Department’s place-based framework for industrial investments in chips, broadband, and other strategic technologies; its use of trade and investment tools to counter national security threats related to dual-use technologies; its approach to US-China economic relations; and US economic diplomacy efforts with allies in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Global South.

Prior to his service in government, Girishankar held senior commercial roles at Bridgewater Associates, where he worked with founder Ray Dalio advising the largest institutional investors in the Middle East and Asia.

Prior to Bridgewater, Navin spent over two decades at the World Bank, where he held senior policy, country, finance, and evaluation roles, and led major initiatives, including its 2015 trade and competitiveness strategy.

He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Williams College.

“I’m honored to lead CSIS’s work on economic security and technology at a critical moment for the Center and for our country,” said Girishankar.

“The United States and its allies are in the midst of a must-win global technology and commercial competition. What’s at stake is our long-term prosperity, the security of our economies and democracies from threats by malign actors, and our ability to overcome global crises such as climate change. It is imperative that we take a hard look at our technology capabilities and vulnerabilities relative to others, including China; modernize our economic and technology policy tool kit; and rethink our approach to public-private collaboration at home and economic alliances around the world. I believe the Economic Security and Technology Department and our world-class team will play a central role in meeting this challenge.”

Scholars within the CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department are recognized as leading global experts on issues ranging from AI regulatory policy and the energy transition to trade competitiveness and economic relations with China and the Global South, according to the release.