Ph.D. in political science, University of California, Los Angeles; B.A. in Spanish, Ohio State University
Lisa Saum-Manning is an acting associate director of the International Security and Defense Policy Program, part of the RAND National Security Research Division. She is a political scientist whose research focuses on strategic planning for the U.S. Armed Forces and the Department of Homeland Security to include: Security Cooperation, Counterinsurgency, WMD Nonproliferation, Deterrence, Diversity/Recruitment/Retention challenges, and Disaster Recovery. Saum-Manning's primary research focuses on optimizing the use of ally and partner military force capabilities through security cooperation efforts in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Indo Pacific region. She has extensive experience engaging with U.S. and partner nation officials. In 2019, she conducted field work in East Africa, evaluating U.S. military efforts to build partner logistics capacity for UN peacekeepers deploying to Somalia. In 2018, she spent 7 months deployed to Puerto Rico to support FEMA's hurricane recovery efforts. She taught CIV-MIL engagement courses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; co-presented a course on Strategic Intelligence in Colombia for Colombian intelligence officials; and traveled to Guatemala to assess U.S. security cooperation efforts. Saum-Manning also spent four months deployed to Afghanistan as an analyst for the Commanding General of the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command. Additional research includes: urban combat, Security Cooperation workforce development, space and WMD deterrence, and diversity challenges for the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard and the Los Angeles Fire Department. Prior to RAND, Saum-Manning worked in the Nonproliferation and National Security Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory assessing nuclear infrastructure capacity-building in developing countries. She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Lisa Saum-Manning, "Best Practices and Lessons Learned from Community Engagement and Data Collection Strategies in Post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico," Journal of Homeland Security Management, 18(3), 2021
Alexis A. Blanc and Lisa Saum-Manning. , "The No-First-Use Debate: Arguments, Assumptions, and an Assessment," SAIS, 39(2), 2019
Lisa Saum-Manning, "All Good Things Must End: Don't worry about Russia backing away from the International Space Station or an old arms control plan.," US News and World Report, 2015
Lisa Saum-Manning, "VSO/ALP: Comparing Past and Current Challenges to Afghan Local Defense," Small Wars Journal, 2012
