Elizabeth Threlkeld is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center, where she has worked since 2018 and previously served as deputy director. Her research focuses on nuclear competition in Southern Asia, regional security dynamics, and Indo-Pacific geopolitics.

Before joining Stimson, she served as a US foreign service officer in Islamabad and Peshawar, Pakistan, and in Monterrey, Mexico. She also worked in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region, managing development programs on gender-based violence and ethno-sectarian reconciliation, and has additional experience in China, Taiwan, and Turkey.

She began her career with the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Threlkeld holds an MPhil in Politics and International Relations from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Swarthmore College. She is a recipient of a Department of State Superior Honor Award and the Matilda W. Sinclaire Language Award.