Masao Dahlgren is a fellow with the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he writes on missile defense, space, and emerging technologies. In addition to his writing, he has presented at conferences including the Hypersonic Innovation Conference and Directed Energy Technology Symposium and appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Axios, CNBC, and others. Prior to joining CSIS, he worked at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, U.S. Department of Justice, and NVIDIA Corporation.

He has a Bachelor's Degree in International Studies from American University and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.