Nilanthi Samaranayake is an adjunct fellow at the East-West Center in Washington. The views expressed are solely those of the author and not of any organisation with which she is affiliated.

She was previously Director of the Strategy and Policy Analysis program at CNA, a nonprofit research organization in the Washington area. She led several studies at CNA on Indian Ocean security and authored book chapters on the Indian Navy; the smaller countries of South Asia and their relations with China; the US-China-India “strategic triangle” in the Indian Ocean; and island states in the Indian Ocean. Samaranayake’s analysis has been featured in Asian Security, World Politics Review, RSIS Commentary, and The Diplomat, among other outlets. She has appeared in media such as Al Jazeera, New York Times, South China Morning Post, and Nikkei Asian Review.

Samaranayake completed a fellowship at the National Bureau of Asian Research in Seattle and analysed public opinion for a decade at Pew Research Center in Washington.