Ellen Laipson is a Distinguished Fellow and President Emeritus of Stimson. Laipson joined Stimson in 2002, after 25 years of government service. Her last post was Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council (1997-2002). She also served on the State Department’s policy planning staff and was a specialist in Middle East affairs for the Congressional Research Service. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the International Advisory Council of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. She served on the board of the Asia Foundation (2003-2015). She was a member of President Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board from 2009-2013, and on the Secretary of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board 2011-2014. Laipson has an M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and an AB from Cornell University.
Selected Publications
Revisiting Marshall: Hope for Private Sector Growth in the Middle East (Brink, March 3, 2015)
Revisiting Marshall: Private Sector Development in the Middle East (Stimson Center, March 3, 2015)
Abdullah’s Real Legacy: Saudi Arabia’s Days of Quiet Change (Foreign Affairs, January 26, 2015)
The Marshall Plan still resonates in the Arab world (The Hill, November 20, 2014)
Tunisia’s Path to a New Order (Fikra Forum, November 4, 2014)
Tunisia’s Democratic Growing Pains (Fikra Forum, October 23, 2014)
The UAE and Egypt’s New Frontier in Libya (The National Interest, September 3, 2014)
Iraq and Afghanistan – any silver linings in our playbook? (The Hill, July 18, 2014)
Geography Matters – Stimson’s Regional Security Programs (Stimson Center, July 13 2014)
Mr. Jomaa Goes To Washington: A Breath Of Fresh Air From Tunisia’s ‘Arab Spring’ Revolution (co-author, International Business Times, April 4, 2014)
The President and King Abdullah talk regional security (Stimson Center, April 1, 2014)
Measuring US Impact and Influence in Iraq (Stimson Center, February 28, 2014)
Saudi-US friendship under pressure (CNN, November, 7, 2013)
More questions than answers about Afghan future (CNN, October 14, 2013)
Syria And Iran: The U.N. Proves Its Worth To The U.S. (International Business Times, October 10, 2013)
Picture Perfect: The Economic Integration of North Africa (Outpost, June 24, 2013)
Seismic Shift: Understanding Change in the Middle East (project director, May 2011)
The Future of US-Iraq Relations (Stimson Center, April 2010)
On the Move: Migration Challenges in the Indian Ocean Littoral (coeditor, Stimson, 2010)
America and the Emerging Iraqi Reality: New Goals, No Illusions (The Century Foundation, 2008)
Prospects for Middle East Security-Sector Reform (Survival, 2007)
Iraq and America: Choices and Consequences (coeditor, Stimson, July 2006)
Iraqi Kurds and Iraq’s Future (coauthor, Middle East Policy, 2006)
Improving the Interagency Process to Face 21st Century Security Challenges (2005)
