Bio

Nilanthi Samaranayake has worked as an analyst in the Washington DC area for 25 years. Her work focuses on the study of Indian Ocean regional security, the Smaller South Asian countries, small states navigating great-power and major-power competition, and US alliances and strategic partnerships globally. 

• Samaranayake has conducted studies examining various aspects of Indian Ocean security, including US strategy toward the region, India's naval and maritime strategy, smaller countries' responses to China's presence in the region, and non-traditional security issues.

• She is writing a book about the Smaller South Asian countries. The project builds on her work over the past decade which looks beyond the traditional India-Pakistan study of South Asia and conceptualizes Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives as a discrete subregion for analysis. 

• She also examines non-traditional security in the Indian Ocean and South Asia, such as Brahmaputra water security; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and disaster resilience (natural and human-made disasters). 

• More recently, Samaranayake has expanded her work on US alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region to the study of US alliance management globally, including the adoption of data science methods.

Samaranayake's major research publications on Indian Ocean security and small states in international affairs include:

• "US Naval Strategy in the Indian Ocean" (ANU National Security College Press, 2025)

• "Bangladesh–US Bilateral Relations" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

• "Sri Lanka" in Blue Security in the Indo-Pacific (Routledge, 2024)

• "Sri Lanka Navigating Major Power Rivalry: How domestic drivers collide with the international system" (Small States & Territories, 2023) 

• "Sri Lanka and South Asia" (Routledge Handbook of the International Relations of South Asia, 2022)

• "Quad Plus: A Role for Indian Ocean Island States?" (Routledge, 2021). 

• "India’s Naval and Maritime Power" (Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2020)

• China’s Engagement with Smaller South Asian Countries (US Institute of Peace, 2019)

• "Securing the Maritime Silk Road in South Asia and the Indian Ocean" (Asia Policy, 2019)

• “Traditional and Non-Traditional Security Issues in the Indian Ocean” (Sasakawa Peace Foundation, 2017)

• "US-China-India Triangle in the Indian Ocean Region: A US Perspective" (KW Publishers, 2015)

• "Island States in a Region of Great Powers" (Stimson Center, 2014)

• "China's Relations with the Smaller Countries of South Asia" (Praeger, 2014)

• The Long Littoral Project: Bay of Bengal (CNA, 2012)

• "Are Sri Lanka’s Relations with China Deepening? An Analysis of Economic, Military, and Diplomatic Data" (Asian Security, 2011).

For research collaboration, Samaranayake is co-author of Raging Waters: China, India, Bangladesh, and Brahmaputra River Politics (Marine Corps University Press, 2018). She has led additional group-authored studies including: The Future of US Alliances and Partnerships: A Data Science Approach (CNA, 2021), The Future of US-India Naval Relations (CNA, 2017), Water Resource Competition in the Brahmaputra River Basin: China, India, and Bangladesh (CNA, 2016), Improving US-India HA/DR Coordination in the Indian Ocean (CNA, 2014), and US-India Security Burden-Sharing? The Potential for Coordinated Capacity-Building in the Indian Ocean (CNA, 2013).

Samaranayake’s analysis has been published in Newsweek, East Asia Forum, Defense One, Hindustan Times, and Lawfare, among other outlets. She has appeared in media such as BBC, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, CBS, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, The Daily Telegraph, DD India, Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, South China Morning Post, and Nikkei Asia. She lectures widely at US and overseas research and official institutions. 

She has served as Member, US Institute of Peace's China-South Asia Senior Study Group, 2020; Senior Advisor, National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) project, Strengthening Disaster Response and Cooperation in South Asia, 2022; Member, International Research Committee, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS); International Adviser, Seychelles Research Journal; Member, Editorial Advisory Board, South Asia Journal; mentor to undergraduate and graduate students, emerging security analysts, and the Pipeline Fellowship Program of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS); and peer reviewer for academic journals and research institutions.

Samaranayake is a Visiting Expert at the United States Institute of Peace and an Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor for the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington DC. Previously, she was Director of the Strategy and Policy Analysis Program at CNA in Arlington, VA. She led a team of analysts who conduct multidisciplinary research and analysis for civilian and military leaders on defense strategy development and lessons learned; global alliances and partnerships; nuclear and deterrence issues; non-traditional security; and Arctic strategy and policy. 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 DC. She holds an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in International Studies from American University in Washington DC.