Emily Ellinger

Policy Analyst

Pittsburgh Office

Education

M.S. in international relations, University of Edinburgh; B.A. in physics, Northwestern University

One Page Bio

Overview

Emily Ellinger (she/her) is a policy analyst at RAND Corporation, based in the Pittsburgh office. Her research interests include strategic competition, alliance formation and politics, the security clearance process, extremism, and security cooperation, geographically focused on Europe and East Asia.

Ellinger holds a M.S. in international relations from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Her master’s thesis comprised a comparative analysis of U.S. alliances as they related to intelligence sharing in a post-9/11 world. Her B.A. from Northwestern University is in Physics with concentrations in theoretical physics and astrophysics. During her undergraduate studies she spent three years researching protoplanetary disks with NASA, culminating in two publications including “Connection historical disk interactions with current planetary system architectures”.

Prior to joining RAND, Ellinger was a threat analyst at Prescient LLC, a private firm that provided open-source analysis for on-the-ground threats and potential risks in remote locations around the world. During her undergraduate career, Ellinger spent a quarter in China studying at Peking University and Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic. There she investigated public health and renewable energy technology and policy in a fellowship for the Wanxiang Corporation.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Michael J. Mazarr, Bryan Frederick, John J. Drennan, Emily Ellinger, Kelly Elizabeth Eusebi, Bryan Rooney, Andrew Stravers, Emily Yoder, Understanding Influence in the Strategic Competition with China, RAND Corp., 2021

Marek N. Posard, Emily Ellinger, Jamie Ryan, Richard S. Girven, Updating Personnel Vetting and Security Clearance Guidelines for Future Generations, RAND Corp., 2021

Mazarr, Michael J., Bryan Frederick, Emily Ellinger, and Benjamin Boudreaux, Competition and Restraint in Cyberspace: The Role of International Norms in Promoting U.S. Cybersecurity, RAND Corporation (RR-A1180-1), 2022

Publications

Research Brief
Managing the Escalation Risks of U.S. Military Activities in the Indo-Pacific
This brief describes how the United States can select and shape its military activities in the Indo-Pacific region to deter Chinese aggression against U.S. allies and partners while also limiting the risks of escalatory Chinese reactions.
Jan 12, 2023
Report
Managing Escalation While Competing Effectively in the Indo-Pacific
This report assesses how China may react to U.S. military activities in the Indo-Pacific. It provides a framework of factors likely to determine Chinese responses and advises how the characteristics of activities may affect the risk of escalation.
Nov 30, 2022
Report
Anticipating Chinese Reactions to U.S. Posture Enhancements
This report provides a framework of key factors to aid U.S. policymakers in assessing how China may react to shifting U.S. posture in the Indo-Pacific. The authors apply the framework to hypothetical posture enhancements to offer insights.
Oct 25, 2022
Research Brief
Deception Detection
In this report, the authors developed and tested the use of machine-learning methods to detect speech patterns that reflect attempts at deception or truthfulness during simulated security clearance background interviews.
Oct 19, 2022
Report
Looking for Lies: An Exploratory Analysis for Automated Detection of Deception
The authors of this report developed and tested the use of machine-learning methods to detect speech patterns that reflect attempts at deception or truthfulness during simulated security clearance background interviews.
Oct 19, 2022
Report
Competition and Restraint in Cyberspace: The Role of International Norms in Promoting U.S. Cybersecurity
The authors discuss the need and potential for norms constraining cyber aggression. They review the history of cyber norms and the current policies surrounding them and propose a renewed agenda for the United States to encourage their development.
Mar 4, 2022
Report
Understanding Influence in the Strategic Competition with China
This report examines China's ability to use various mechanisms of influence to shape the policies and behavior of 20 countries, as well as the lessons that these examples offer for the United States' strategic competition with China.
Jun 30, 2021
Report
Updating Personnel Vetting and Security Clearance Guidelines for Future Generations
The authors identified select trends, including age-based factors, among younger adults to understand broader social changes that may affect current security clearance adjudication guidelines for positions in the U.S. government.
Mar 11, 2021