Ryan C. Berg

Director, Americas Program
Ryan C. Berg

Ryan C. Berg is director of the Americas Program and head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also an adjunct professor at the Catholic University of America and a course coordinator at the United States Foreign Service Institute. His research focuses on U.S.-Latin America relations, strategic competition and defense policy, authoritarian regimes, armed conflict and transnational organized crime, and trade and development issues. Previously, Dr. Berg was a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he helped lead its Latin America Studies Program, as well as visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Changing Character of War Programme. Dr. Berg was a Fulbright scholar in Brazil and is a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member. He has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed academic and policy-oriented journals, including The Lancet, Migration and Development, the SAIS Review of International Affairs, and the Georgetown Security Studies Review. His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Los Angeles Times, and World Politics Review, among other outlets. He routinely testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Dr. Berg obtained a PhD and an MPhil in political science and an MSc in global governance and diplomacy from the University of Oxford, where he was a Senior Hulme Fellow. Earlier, he obtained a BA in government and theology from Georgetown University. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is conversational in Slovenian.

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State of Play

What are CSIS experts' boldest geopolitical predictions in 2026?

12 CSIS experts join Will to share significant developments in different parts of the world in 2025, and predictions for 2026.

Podcast Episode by Will Todman, Ryan C. Berg, Max Bergmann, Victor Cha, Thomas J. Christensen, Charles Edel, Kristi Govella, Henrietta Levin, Bonny Lin, Oge Onubogu, Gregory B. Poling, Richard M. Rossow, and Mona Yacoubian — January 15, 2026

Photo: iLab/CSIS

Imagery from Venezuela Shows a Surgical Strike, Not Shock and Awe

CSIS experts analyze new satellite imagery of U.S. strikes against Venezuela carried out during the mission to capture Nicolás Maduro.

Commentary by Ryan C. Berg, Mark F. Cancian, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Jennifer Jun, Henry Ziemer, and Chris H. Park — January 9, 2026

The Last Line of Defense

Maduro is Gone. Now What in Venezuela?

Seth Jones speaks with Dr. Ryan Berg about Venezuela’s political landscape in the post-Maduro era, examining U.S. policy goals, shifting power structures, and what’s at stake for the country’s new president, Delcy Rodríguez.

Podcast Episode by Seth G. Jones and Ryan C. Berg — January 7, 2026

The Last Line of Defence

What Just Happened in Venezuela? And What Comes Next?

What is the future of Venezuela? Is there a chance for a transition to democracy? Will the United States be able to work with a protégé of Maduro to help govern Venezuela? CSIS experts discuss the aftermath of the U.S. strike on Venezuela, addressing these questions and more.

Event — January 5, 2026