Celeste A. Wallander


Celeste Ann Wallander is an American international relations authority with a focus on Russia. Wallander was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russia and Eurasia on the National Security Council. According to the Department of Defense, Wallander is an expert on Russian and Eurasian foreign and security policy and served from May 2009 - July 2012 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy*. Wallander was an adviser to Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign.

Publications

Wallander received her B.A. summa cum laude in political science from Northwestern University in 1983. She received her M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Yale University.
Wallander was previously a professor of government at Harvard University, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, director and senior fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and visiting professor at Georgetown University. Wallander founded the Program on New Approaches to Russian Security and the Eurasian Strategy Project.