Rachel Ellehuus Joins CSIS as Europe Program Senior Fellow and Deputy Director
October 10, 2018
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce that Rachel Ellehuus, former principal director for European and NATO policy in the office of the Secretary of Defense, will join the Europe Program as deputy director and senior fellow. Ms. Ellehuus will further develop CSIS’s research agenda on NATO in light of recent changes to NATO’s command structure and focus on military mobilization as well as deepen analysis on current and future threats to European and transatlantic security. Ms. Ellehuus will play an instrumental role in furthering the work of the Lillan and Robert D. Stuart Jr. Center in Euro-Atlantic and Northern European Studies, a center of excellence for the study of Northern Europe and the Arctic.
“We are absolutely delighted to have Rachel join the CSIS family and Europe Program,” said Heather A. Conley, CSIS senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and director of CSIS’s Europe Program. “For the past decade, Rachel has been a leading policy voice in shaping U.S. engagement with NATO and strengthening U.S. security and defense partnerships with our strongest Allies and partners. Her experience and insights will be invaluable as CSIS injects new policy ideas and thinking to enhance transatlantic security cooperation for future generations.”
Ms. Ellehuus has worked for the Department of Defense since 2005. From 2013 to 2018, she worked in the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO policy as the principal director for European and NATO policy and previously as director for Central and Southern Europe. From 2012 to 2013, she worked in the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for strategy. From 2009 to 2012, Ms. Ellehuus was based in London, assigned to the Strategy Unit in the UK Ministry of Defense.
“Because NATO is a cornerstone of U.S. national security, its importance demands that the U.S. national security community continue to undertake rigorous research, analysis, and policy development to ensure the Alliance and our Allies remain capable of meeting security challenges in the twenty-first century. We look forward to Rachel’s contributions to strengthening NATO amid uncertain geopolitical times,” said Dr. John Hamre, president and CEO of CSIS.
Prior to her work at the Department of Defense, Ms. Ellehuus was a researcher at the Danish Institute of International Affairs and lived in Prague, Czech Republic, where she worked at the EastWest Institute.
Ms. Ellehuus graduated from Colgate University with a BA in international relations and German and received her MA in political science and European affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium/Natolin, Poland.