Uniting
Research and Policy

As Director of International Crisis Group’s Asia Program since January 2019, Laurel leads the organization’s research, analysis, and policy advocacy about and in the region. Previously, she was a Senior Foreign Policy Expert at the RAND Corporation, where her work covered a wide range of subjects including conflict resolution, democratization, institution-building, and anti-corruption. From 2013 to mid-2017, Laurel was the deputy and then acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the U.S. Department of State.

During prior U.S. government service, she was Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Envoy for the Balkans, and Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. She was directly involved in peace negotiations in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. Laurel also served as Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council.

Laurel was a Senior Expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and has been an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and an Adjunct Professor of law at Georgetown Law. Earlier, she practiced law with Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, and Brussels. Laurel is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Chicago Law School.