Pathfinder 2026

Center for a New American Security • Washington, DC

10d • $250 - $1,000

About The Position

Pathfinder: A National Security Essay Contest Pathfinder, run by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and Breaking Defense, is a writing competition for graduate students and early-career professionals. Writers are asked to submit an essay that analyzes and addresses a national security challenge in 800–1,000 words. This competition seeks to give the next generation of national security leaders an opportunity to have their writing published and promoted by both CNAS and Breaking Defense. Applications for the 2026 cycle will close on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The prompt asks participants to identify a national, transnational, or global security challenge facing the United States that isn’t talked about enough and propose how the U.S. policymaking community can address it in a bold, innovative, and bipartisan way.

Requirements

• Early-career professionals with up to five years of professional experience (including full-time internships) or enrolled in graduate school.
• Service members must be company officers or of rank E-5 and below.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, enrolled in a U.S. educational institution, or legally reside in the United States.
• Complete applications include: Résumé.
• Essay must not include the applicant's name.
• Essay must not have been published elsewhere.
• Essay must be exclusive to this CNAS–Breaking Defense collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Submit an essay of 800–1,000 words that analyzes a national security challenge.
• Offer at least one actionable policy recommendation.
• Ensure the essay is the applicant’s own ideas, research, and writing.
• Cite non-general-knowledge sources using hyperlinks.
• Do not include any content generated by a generative AI tool, unless it is as an element of research on AI itself (and then it must be quoted and cited).

Benefits

• Publication by CNAS and Breaking Defense for top three winners.
• Invitation to attend the CNAS 2027 National Security Conference in person for top three winners.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree