Foreign policy and national security advisor specializing in international security affairs, transatlantic strategy, and defense policy concerning Europe, NATO, Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Her extensive government career includes serving as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (2022–2025), Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russia/Central Asia on the National Security Council (2013–2017), and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia (2009–2012). Outside government service, she has held leadership and research positions including President and CEO of the U.S.-Russia Foundation (2017–2022), Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Her academic career includes faculty positions at Harvard University, Georgetown University, and American University, as well as roles as Executive Director of Penn Washington, Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and Visiting Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She holds a Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. from Yale University and a B.A. from Northwestern University, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Atlantic Council, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.