Laura Linderman is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and senior Fellow and director of programs for the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council.

From 2022 to 2024, she taught South Caucasian studies to US foreign affairs professionals at the Foreign Service Institute. Previously, Linderman served as senior global certification program manager at Splunk (from 2014 to 2022) and was a Peace Corps volunteer in western Georgia, where she taught English and served as president of the national Student Women Alliance Network. She also previously served as the Eurasia Center’s associate director from 2012 to 2014. She was a board member of the Transcaucasian Trail Association from 2018 to 2024. Her analysis has been published in the Dispatch, Foreign Policy, the Hill, and other leading outlets, and her commentary has been featured by the BBC, RFE/RL, Voice of America, and more.

Linderman’s research focuses on North and South Caucasus politics and security dynamics, with emphasis on Georgia, Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, ethnic minorities, and conflict dynamics. Originally from Minnesota, Linderman holds a BA in anthropology and German language and literature from Wellesley College and an MA in anthropology from Indiana University. Her master’s thesis on gender in rural western Georgia, based on fieldwork conducted in 2009, has been utilized for Marine Corps cross-cultural training programs.