Nilanthi Samaranayake is an Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington and has spent most of her career conducting research on the Indian Ocean and South Asian security. She is author of the forthcoming book, Smaller South Asian Countries: Great-Power Competition, Asymmetry, and Agency (Bloomsbury Academic, 2027). Previously, Samaranayake served as the Director of the Strategy and Policy Analysis Program at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), where she led a team of analysts who conduct research for civilian and military leaders, and as a Visiting Expert at the US Institute of Peace. Before joining CNA in 2010, she analyzed public opinion for a decade at Pew Research Center and completed a fellowship at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR).
Her analysis has been published by the Center for Maritime Strategy, Foreign Policy, Hindustan Times, Defense News, Newsweek, and Lowy Interpreter, among other outlets. She has appeared in media such as The Daily Star, South China Morning Post, Washington Post, BBC, Nikkei Asia, and New York Times. She speaks regularly at US and overseas research and government institutions. Samaranayake’s major publications include “Bangladesh’s Growing Role in Maritime Security” (US Institute of Peace, 2024), “Bangladesh–US Bilateral Relations” (in Bangladesh on a New Journey, Bloomsbury Academic, 2024), “Bay of Bengal as a Microcosmic Model for Law of the Sea in the Indian Ocean” (in Center for Bay of Bengal Studies Journal, 2022), China’s Engagement with Smaller South Asian Countries (US Institute of Peace, 2019), Raging Waters: China, India, Bangladesh, and Brahmaputra River Politics (lead author, Marine Corps University Press, 2018), and The Long Littoral Project: Bay of Bengal (CNA, 2012).
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. https://www.nilanthis.com
