- London, UK
Karin von Hippel Keynote Speaker
- Commentator on Security, Defence and International Relations
- Author of 'Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World'
- Distinguished Fellow and Director-General (2015-2025) of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) - Think Tank of the year 2020
Karin von Hippel's Biography
Dr Karin von Hippel served as Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) from 2015-2025. RUSI is a defence and security think tank headquartered in London. It was founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington and was awarded ‘Think Tank of the Year’ in 2020 by Prospect Magazine. She continues as a Distinguished Fellow at RUSI.
Karin joined RUSI after serving for six years in the US Department of State as a Senior Adviser in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, then as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, and finally, as Chief of Staff to General John Allen, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter-ISIL.
Previously, she co-directed the ‘Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project’ at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC and was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London. She has also worked for the United Nations and the European Union in Somalia and Kosovo and has direct experience in over two dozen conflict zones.
Karin has numerous publications to her name, including ‘Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World’ which was shortlisted for the RUSI Westminster Medal in Military History. She is working on an update to this book.
In Spring 2026, she will be the Magro Family Distinguished Visitor in International Affairs at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth.
She is the Chair for the Defence and Security Practice for Arden Strategies in London. She on the Board of Directors of Hala Systems, a firm that develops AI-driven, Open-Source Intelligence tools for situational awareness and conflict management. She is a Trustee of the National Archives Trust and is a Senior Adviser to The Italian Institute for International Political Studies in Milan.
Karin holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, an MSt from Oxford University, and a BA from Yale University.
Karin von Hippel's Speaking Topics
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Global security challenges/geopolitical shifts and risks
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US foreign policy
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Counter-terrorism strategies/successes and failures
Why Book Karin von Hippel as a speaker?
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She has led one of the world’s leading defence and security institutions as Director-General of RUSI from 2015 to 2024, bringing a strategic vantage point on the threats and geopolitical shifts leaders must plan for.
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She draws on senior roles in the U.S. State Department supporting counterterrorism and the Global Coalition to Counter-ISIL to turn complex security challenges into clear, actionable priorities for boards and executive teams.
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She brings rare operational credibility from work with the UN and EU in conflict settings and experience across over two dozen conflict zones, helping audiences understand what instability looks like on the ground and how it escalates.
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She helps organisations stress-test risk and resilience by connecting policy, defence and technology trends, informed by her leadership roles across strategy, advisory and AI-enabled situational awareness.
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She equips audiences to make sharper decisions under uncertainty by combining rigorous research with real-world judgement, including insights shaped by her published work on intervention and post-conflict outcomes.
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