Johns Hopkins SAIS Names Mara Karlin Interim Director of Foreign Policy Institute and Faculty Co-Lead for Security, Strategy, and Statecraft

The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) has appointed Mara Karlin as Professor of Practice, Interim Director of the Foreign Policy Institute at SAIS, and Faculty Co-Lead for Security, Strategy, and Statecraft. An alumna with an MA and a PhD in Strategic Studies from SAIS, Karlin held several positions at the school from 2007 to 2021, including adjunct professor, associate professor, and director of Strategic Studies.

Karlin served in various national security positions for six United States secretaries of defense, advising on policies spanning strategic planning, defense budgeting, the future of conflict, and regional affairs involving the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Most recently, she served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, leading the development and implementation of the 2022 National Defense Strategy, Nuclear Posture Review, and Missile Defense Review—the first time all major strategies were conducted simultaneously.

Karlin advised the Secretary of Defense on the forces, plans, posture, emerging capabilities, and security cooperation activities necessary to implement the defense strategy. She oversaw the formation of a new emerging capabilities policy office; a historic modernization of U.S. force posture in the Indo-Pacific; the implementation of the Australia-United Kingdom-United States partnership (AUKUS); reform of the security cooperation workforce; and the development of numerous national and defense strategic guidance documents.
 
“I am excited to return to the classroom,” Karlin said. “I welcome another great opportunity to engage with SAIS students on their thinking about the shifting security environment and, just as importantly, their role in shaping it.”

While serving in the Biden-Harris Administration, Karlin performed the duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, managing the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and leading a wide range of regional and functional national security, foreign policy, and defense issues. She served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, leading the Department’s relations with nearly 150 countries in Europe (including NATO), the Middle East, Africa, Russia, Eurasia, and the Western Hemisphere.

In the Obama-Biden Administration, Karlin served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development and Principal Director for Strategy. She was on the defense policy team for the Biden-Harris Transition and served on the 2018 National Defense Strategy Commission staff and on the Congressionally appointed Syria Study Group. She was also a professor on Semester at Sea in spring 2017 and spring 2024.
 
“We are very pleased to have Mara back at SAIS,” said SAIS Dean James B. Steinberg. “Her wealth of experience at top levels of the Department of Defense is a priceless resource for our students and our SAIS community.”

Karlin has written two books on military history and policy. She is a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian award presented by the Secretary of Defense.

She holds an undergraduate degree in political science, summa cum laude, from Newcomb College, Tulane University; a master’s degree in Strategic Studies, Middle East Studies, and International Economics with distinction from SAIS; and a PhD in Strategic Studies from SAIS.

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Johns Hopkins SAIS

For more than eight decades, students have come to the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) to learn from renowned faculty and distinguished policy practitioners, build their professional networks, and gain hands-on work experience.
 
The school was founded in 1943 by Paul H. Nitze and Christian A. Herter, statesmen who sought to prepare the next generation of leaders to meet the complex challenges the U.S. and the world would face following World War II. A distinguished faculty of scholars and policy experts developed an innovative curriculum that emphasized international politics, economics, and foreign languages. That program, combined with skills training and experiential learning, helped prepare students to make a difference in government, civil society, and the private sector. In 1955, SAIS established a campus in Bologna, Italy, and in 1986 the school initiated one of the first Western university programs in the People’s Republic of China in Nanjing.

Today, SAIS carries on this tradition, preparing students for the emerging challenges of the 21st century. Johns Hopkins SAIS alumni number more than 24,000+, a network of professionals working across the globe. From private-sector executives to entrepreneurs, leaders of nongovernmental organizations to ambassadors, and international media correspondents to energy consultants, SAIS alumni are defined by their innovative thinking, analytical approach, and policy expertise. They are leaders in their fields, lifelong students committed to the betterment of the world.
 
For more information, visit sais.jhu.edu or on Twitter @SAISHopkins

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