Shamila N Chaudhary

Shamila N. Chaudhary is a Senior South Asia Fellow at New America and Senior Advisor to Dean Vali Nasr at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She is a foreign policy expert specializing in U.S. counterterrorism and national security issues, U.S.-Pakistan relations, Pakistan internal politics, and regional issues in South Asia.

She worked on Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka at the political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group from 2011-2013. From April 2010 until July 2011, she served as Pakistan Director at the National Security Council. to that she served as a member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and as a senior adviser to Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, beginning in February 2009. Chaudhary rose through the ranks at the State Department after impressing Secretary Hillary Clinton with her knowledge and outspoken nature during a briefing.

Chaudhary's writings cover United States foreign policy, counterterrorism, and national security issues in South Asia in addition to other diverse topics such as energy policy and feminism & national identity. She is a frequent contributor to Foreign Policy and her work has also been featured in The Washington Post, Current History, The Daily Beast, and the BBC.

Chaudhary earned an M.A. in International Affairs from the American University School of International Service and a B.A. in English Literature and Women’s Studies from the University of Toledo. She was a 1999 David L. Boren National Security Education Program (NSEP) Fellow and studied Urdu in Lahore, Pakistan as part of her fellowship. Chaudhary and her husband established the Chaudhary-Steinitz Research grant at University of Toledo to support undergraduate students studying issues related to Pakistan.