Dr. Elena Kovalova joined the faculty of the National War College in September of 2011. She came from the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where she served as a Professor of National Security Studies for the last six years. She taught in the programs on Terrorism and Security Studies, Advanced Security Studies, Security, Stability, Transition and Reconstruction, Senior Executive Seminars, and Eurasia Security Seminars for the U.S. Foreign Area Officers.
Dr. Kovalova is an expert in democratization and good governance, security sector reform in transition societies, nexus of crime, corruption, and terrorism, security organizations in Europe and Eurasia, and strategic environment and interactions in Central Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
Dr. Kovalovas academic credentials include a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the University of Oxford (UK), Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship (USA), British Academy Visiting Fellowship (UK), and Central European University (Hungary-Czech Republic).
She has a Habilitation Doctorate in Politics from the Institute of Politics and Ethno-National Studies, Kiev, Ukraine. Dr. Kovalova was directly involved in higher education transformation in the postcommunist world through participation in the Yale Universitys Civic Education Project. She provided academic expertise for the European Commissions enlargement projects and participated in endeavors of the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes (USA-Germany Switzerland) designed to assist with reforms in the field of political military education in transition states.
In 2009-2011 Dr. Kovalova was a Member of Chambésy Roundtable Discussion on European security issues with the involvement of Russian, European and U.S. experts and officials with an emphasis on the ongoing strategic review and the evolving mutual security perceptions. She have authored or edited three books and over 40 articles on EU and NATO enlargement, transitional transformations, and security of Ukraine, Russia, and Eurasia.
Functional Expertise: Democratization, Good Governance, and Security; Nexus of Transnational Crime, Terrorism, and Corruption; International Security Organizations; European Union; Security Studies, International Relations
Regional Expertise: Ukraine; Russia; Central Eastern Europe; Baltics; Caucasus; Central Asia
Email: Olena.Kovalova@ndu.edu