Asya Akca

is a program manager for the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she facilitates event planning, outreach efforts, and supports the project’s research agenda. She previously worked with the Cooperative Defense Project at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS, she worked as a research assistant with the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, where she analyzed suicide terrorist attacks in the Middle East. She has also held internships at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Egyptian Affairs, as well as at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels. She holds a master’s degree in international relations and a bachelor’s degree in political science both from the University of Chicago.

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Analysis / Strategy

By Other Means – Part I: Campaigning in the Gray Zone

With the significant costs of engaging the U.S. in combat and a growing range of non-military tools at their disposal, rivals threaten U.S. interests by operating in the “gray zone.” The U.S must employ a broad spectrum of tools and concepts to deter and compete in the gray zone.

Analysis / Strategy

Shifting the Burden Responsibly: Oversight and Accountability in U.S. Security Sector Assistance

This study conducted by the CSIS Cooperative Defense Project assesses the levels of progress on implementing reforms throughout the security sector assistance enterprise and developing an action plan that addresses specific issues along planning, operations, policy and doctrine, and training lines of effort.

Analysis / Reform

Pursuing Effective and Conflict-Aware Stabilization: Framing and Constructing a Roadmap

The U.S. government’s Stabilization Assistance Review (SAR) framework provides an opportunity to clarify and streamline stabilization assistance, though implementation will require sustained leadership, an interagency roadmap, new processes, bureaucratic incentives, and a review of authorities and resources.