Sophia Kierstead

Sophia most recently served as a Research Associate for Stimson’s South Asia Program and Managing Editor of the publication South Asian Voices, a platform for analysts and academics from the region to publish rigorous analysis on South Asia’s security, political, and economic affairs. Her role at Stimson was a natural continuation of her position as the South and Central Asia Analyst for the U.S. Department of State’s Overseas Security Advisory Council, in which she served as a security and crisis liaison to the U.S. private sector and developed an interest in U.S. crisis management through her first-hand experiences. As an analyst, she chose to diverge from her earlier research on foreign and domestic terrorist networks (U.S. Department of State, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Chicago Project on Security and Threats) to grow her understanding of the intersection between climate change and economic and political stability. She plans to dedicate a future career of public service to addressing these issues internationally, particularly as they effect Asia. Sophia received a Boren Scholarship (2020-2021) to study Urdu in Lucknow, India, and plans to continue her study of South Asian culture and languages through Princeton and the Princeton SINSI Program.