Brianne Todd

Brianne Todd focuses on U.S. policy toward Central Asia and transnational threats and regional security issues in Central Asia. In addition to developing and facilitating the NESA Center’s programs in and with the countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), Professor Todd regularly lectures on Central Asia and advises U.S. and foreign government officials and military officers on issues related to the region. Concurrently, Professor Todd serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Center for Security Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where she teaches a graduate-level seminar on “Power and Violence in Central Asia.”

From 2021-2023, Professor Todd was detailed to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where she served as a Country Director for Central Asia. In recognition of her work on Central Asia and Afghanistan, she received an Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Outstanding Achievement and a Golden Pen Award and was twice nominated for the Richard L. Armitage Award for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.

Professor Todd holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Russian Language & Literature, and Russian & East European Studies from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Arts degree in Eurasian, Russian & East European Studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She is currently completing her doctorate (Ph.D.) in the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.