Martha Miller

Senior Fellow for Alliances and Emerging Threats

Martha Miller serves as a Senior Fellow for Alliances and Emerging Threats at the Center for the National Interest. In this role, she directs the Center’s programming on transatlantic security, with a primary focus on the Baltic and High North theaters. Her work examines this region not merely as a European flank, but as a strategic link between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, analyzing how asymmetric competition and infrastructure vulnerabilities in the North impact global security.

Previously, Martha served as the Deputy Executive Director of the National Security Institute (NSI) at George Mason University. There, she directed policy programming at the intersection of transatlantic security and emerging technology, leading high-level engagements with allied defense officials and congressional stakeholders—including participating in roundtable discussions with the Senate Defense Modernization Caucus. A frequent commenter on emerging threats and geopolitical developments, she has appeared on outlets such as Fox News, NewsNation, and C-SPAN to analyze defense innovation and security strategy.

Martha brings over two decades of experience in U.S. foreign policy and legislative affairs to the Center, supported by deep regional expertise. She has lived and worked in both France and Germany, gaining proficiency in French and German and a first-hand perspective on European political dynamics.

During the George W. Bush Administration, she served as Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel, where she advised on key national security and diplomatic appointments, presidential delegations, and international assemblies. Her government service also includes serving in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, where she managed the Bureau’s legislative agenda on defense cooperation and security assistance. Prior to her executive branch service, Martha worked for five years on Capitol Hill, serving on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Gordon Smith (R–OR).

Martha holds a B.A. with distinction in French Language and Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has studied at l’Université Paul Valéry–Montpellier III.