Todd Harrison

Todd Harrison is the director of defense budget analysis and a senior fellow in the International Security Program at CSIS. He leads the Center’s efforts to provide in-depth, nonpartisan research and analysis of defense funding issues. He also provides expert analysis on space security and other key national security issues. Mr. Harrison joined CSIS from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, where he was a senior fellow for defense budget studies. He has authored a number of publications on trends in the overall defense budget, defense acquisitions, military compensation, military readiness, cost of nuclear forces, military space systems, and cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He frequently contributes to print and broadcast media and has appeared on CNBC, CNN, NPR, Al Jazeera English, and Fox News. He has been a guest lecturer for a number of organizations and teaches a class on the defense budget at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs and a class on military space systems at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was named one of the Defense News 100 Most Influential People in U.S. Defense.

Mr. Harrison previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he supported clients across the Department of Defense, assessing challenges to modernization initiatives and evaluating the performance of acquisition programs. Prior to Booz Allen, he worked in the aerospace industry developing advanced space systems and technologies and served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S. and an M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics.