Dr. Stephanie M. Burchard is a US national security and defense expert based in the Washington D.C. area. Since 2012, she has been a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Virginia. From January 2015 to August 2016, she was on detail to the Security Governance Initiative at the U.S. Department of State. From August 2016 to 2017, she served as Director of Policy and Program Analysis in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Office of African Affairs. She has taught courses at Georgetown University, American University, and the University of Cape Town.
African politics; election violence; defense and security
Dr. Burchard’s current research interests include institutional capacity building for the defense sector, militant group formation, and the role of women in promoting peace and security.
Ph.D., political science, Rice University
Dr. Burchard's book, Electoral Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Causes and Consequences, was published in 2015 by Lynne Rienner Publishers. She has also authored articles in academic journals including Comparative Political Studies, African Studies Review, and Government and Opposition. Her most recent article, “U.S. Training of African Forces and Military Assistance, 1997 to 2017: Security versus Human Rights in Principal-Agent Relations,” co-authored with Dr. Stephen Burgess, was published by African Security in 2019.