Dr. Nola Haynes

Nola Haynes, PhD, MDiv, is a former adjunct senior fellow for the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Haynes, an international relations-focused political scientist, also teaches at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and is affiliated with the National Security Policy Center at the University of Virginia.

Haynes’s research centers on national security and foreign policy issues particularly focused on arms control and international hybrid-security threats.

Haynes has a two-year appointment to the Biden-Harris Administration as a member of the reconvened International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) at the U.S. Department of State. Her role on ISAB is to advise Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Undersecretary Bonnie Jenkins on security problems spanning new artificial intelligence technology, nuclear deterrence, and new security challenges.

Haynes has substantive expertise regarding nuclear and conventional weapons, policy norms, sanctions and treaty-making.

Haynes is a 2023 Truman National Security Project Security Fellow and has been named one of the top 50 leaders in national security and foreign affairs by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Diversity in National Security (DINSN) in 2022. Haynes was the former Director of Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS) Westcoast Chapter. She sits on several boards including, the Women’s Caucus for the International Studies Association communications team (WCIS), International Security board for American Political Science Association (APSA) and ISA West. She is a member of Black Professional in International Affairs (BPIA), and an alumna of the WestExec Advisors mentoring program. As a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, Haynes works as an Ops Coordinator to help resettle Afghan allies with Evacuate Our Allies (EOA) and is a policy advocate for the Afghan Adjustment Act.

Additionally, Haynes has over ten years’ experience working in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA). She’s traveled extensively, conducted research in West Africa and Central America on the intersections of terrorism, religion, gender, crisis and conflict. She is a regular guest on the Black News Channel (BNC) discussing foreign policy and national security related issues; she regularly appears on MSNBC to discuss Russia and Ukraine and is a panelist/subject matter expert on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Haynes is also a published policy writer on foreign policy matters along with being an active op-ed writer. Haynes holds degrees from the University of California, Los Angles, (UCLA), Harvard Divinity School (HDS) and the University of Southern California (USC).