Emma Borden is associate director of the RAND Center for the Geopolitics of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), where her work focuses on the national security and geopolitical implications of AGI. From 2021 to 2025, she served in numerous roles in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, including as principal director for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia; in the Under Secretary’s front office advising on Europe, Middle East, Africa, Western Hemisphere, and homeland defense issues; and as a country director in the Middle East office. She is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Previously, Borden worked on foreign policy, defense, and veterans issues in the U.S. Senate and in the Brookings Institution's Center for Middle East Policy. She received her M.S. in foreign service, with distinction, from Georgetown University, and her B.A. in international relations and Middle East politics, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Cornell University. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
M.S. in foreign service, Georgetown University; B.A. in College Scholar Program (international relations and Middle East politics), Cornell University
