Dr. Melissa Laine Skorka

A former policy advisor to U.S. Office of Secretary of Defense and fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Dr. Skorka is globally recognized by national security officials for her intellectual merit and leadership on defense, diplomacy, space, and intelligence in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America. Previously, Dr. Skorka served as Director of the Albright Stonebridge South Asia Practice, where she drew on her distinguished career advising presidential envoys, ambassadors, and global security leaders. As Senior Fellow at the University of Oxford Changing Character of War Centre and Executive Director of the Oxford Strategic Intelligence Institute, she spearheaded major power competition and geopolitical risk analyses, focusing on China, India, and Pakistan. Dr. Skorka served as Senior Advisor to the UN/EU and Afghan Minister of Peace in Kabul, as well as EU/UN leaders on high-level global security and humanitarian deliberations. Additionally, Dr. Skorka completed four consecutive tours with U.S. and NATO armed forces in Afghanistan, where she served as strategic advisor to former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and retired U.S. Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, helping formulate national security plans and defense operations in country. While in Afghanistan, she was appointed as lead author of the "12 Star" counterterrorism strategy, “NATO State of the Insurgency,” and “ISAF Extractive Industry Stabilization Operations.” For her work, Dr. Skorka received the U.S. Secretary of Defense Medal for Global War on Terrorism. Other positions held by Dr. Skorka include counterterrorism advisor to U.S. Special Operations Commander LTG Michael Nagata; Senior Advisor to Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari’s Crisis Management Initiative; Research Associate for Stanford University's Mapping Militants Project; and Security Fellowship Director of the Truman National Security Project. Dr. Skorka has held Term Membership at the Council on Foreign Relations, Oxford Women in Politics, and Women in International Security. Her work and commentaries have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. As a Rotary Ambassadorial and Smith Richardson Scholar, she received her Ph.D in International Relations History (first-class honors) and a double-master's degree from Oxford University. Her doctoral monograph explored the modern history of Islamist militant political adaptation to Western policy, focusing on security, human rights, and rule of law.