• Middle East/Southwest Asia

Ellen Laipson is president and chief executive officer of Stimson. She also directs the Middle East/Southwest Asia program, and focuses in particular on security issues in the Gulf region. Laipson joined Stimson in 2002, after 25 years of government service. Key positions included vice chair of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) (1997-2002), and special assistant to the US permanent representative to the United Nations (1995-97). At the NIC, Laipson co-managed the interdisciplinary study "Global Trends 2015," and directed the NIC's outreach to think tanks and research organizations on a wide range of national security topics.

Laipson's earlier government career focused on analysis and policymaking on Middle East and South Asian issues. She was director for Near East and South Asian Affairs for the National Security Council (1993-95), national intelligence officer for Near and South Asia (1990-93), a member of the State Department's policy planning staff (1986-87), and a specialist in Middle East affairs for the Congressional Research Service.

Laipson is a frequent speaker on Middle East issues, and on US foreign policy and global trends. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the International Institute of Strategic Studies, where she is a member of the International Advisory Council. She currently serves on the board of the Asia Foundation.  In late 2009, President Obama named Laipson to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.  In 2011, Secretary Clinton named Laipson to the new US Department of State's Foreign Affairs Policy Board.

Laipson has an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and a BA from Cornell University.

Selected Publications

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)