Rebecca Lissner

A senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Rebecca Lissner focuses on how the US navigates a more crowded and complicated world.

She brings first-hand experience from the White House, where she served under Joe Biden as a senior adviser on national security, working closely with Kamala Harris. Lissner’s remit was broad. She advised on everything from US–China tensions and Russia’s war in Ukraine to emerging issues such as artificial intelligence and climate policy. She was also involved in the quieter, but no less important, work of shaping long-term strategy, including contributing to the administration’s National Security Strategy.

Before entering government, Lissner was an academic. She taught at the US Naval War College and wrote on American grand strategy. That background still shapes her thinking. She tends to step back and ask a bigger question: what is the United States actually trying to do in the world, and what is it willing to sustain?

Her answer is pragmatic. Stay engaged internationally, but be clear about the limits. Back alliances. Keep systems open. Avoid costly overreach. In her book An Open World, Lissner argues that American leadership still matters, but it must be more disciplined and less ideological.

Rebecca Lissner has written and spoken extensively on the politics of AI. Her view is that the debate in Washington is getting ahead of the public. While policymakers focus on competition with China and rapid innovation, many Americans are more concerned about jobs, costs, and basic safeguards. If those concerns are brushed aside, she warns, the backlash could reshape the entire agenda.

What sets her apart is her ability to link foreign policy to everyday realities — economic pressure, political trust, social stability. In her work, global strategy only holds if it makes sense at home.

As a speaker, Lissner is clear and measured. She offers a grounded view of where US foreign policy is heading, how technology is changing the stakes, and why public opinion is becoming harder to ignore.