Shanthi Kalathil
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA), London School of Economics (MSc)
Occupation(s)Foreign policy analyst, human rights advocate, former journalist
EmployerUniversity of Southern California
Board member ofNational Democratic Institute, Radio Free Asia
SpouseJon Wolfsthal
Parent(s)James Kalathil, Lucia Tang

Shanthi Kalathil (born in 1972)[1] is an American foreign policy analyst, international affairs practitioner, human rights advocate, and former journalist, currently serving as a Washington D.C.-based senior fellow at the University of Southern California (USC)'s Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. She was formerly Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights at the White House National Security Council during the Biden Administration.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Education

Kalathil holds a B.A. in communications from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.Sc. in comparative politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.[9][10]

Career

In the late 1990s, Kalathil was a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal Asia, based in Hong Kong. She joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as an associate in 2000. Her research focused on the role of information and technology in international affairs.[11]

From 2004 to 2006, Kalathil was a senior democracy fellow at the US Agency for International Development (USAID).[12] She also worked for the World Bank as a consultant on media and development.[10]

Kalathil joined the NSC in January 2021 as Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights after serving as Senior Director at the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies. During her tenure, she was the lead organizer of the inaugural Summit for Democracy.[13] In February 2022, she left the NSC. She started private practice before joining USC's Center on Communication Leadership and Policy as a DC-based senior fellow in April 2023, leading the expansion of the Center's portfolio on the intersections of democratic development, the information environment, and national security.[3][14]

Kalathil is a board member of the National Democratic Institute[15] and Radio Free Asia,[16] which she described as having “filled a critical role in combating Chinese disinformation and providing timely news to millions in Asia who would otherwise be in the dark."[17]

Views on diplomacy and democracy

In a 2022 article for the Brown Journal of International Affairs, Kalathil wrote: "As a nation with immense information resources, the United States should be studying and perhaps copying from relevant examples, doing all it can to utilize its touted soft power. Ultimately, policymakers should bear in mind that if America does not effectively craft its image in a globalizing, information-rich world, there are others more than happy to take up the task-with the potential for significantly different results."[18]

In her testimony to a 2018 House Foreign Affairs Committee Asia Subcommittee hearing, Kalathil said China's influence operations "wield influence that chills free expression within democracies around the world" and restrain speech and political sentiment outside China through surveillance. She added that Chinese Communist Party utilized both positive and negative market incentives to bolster this influence.[19]

Publications

Books

Reports

  • The Evolution of Authoritarian Digital Influence: Grappling with the New Normal, National Defense University, 2020[21]
  • Adapting for the Global Diplomatic Arena: A Report of the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology, Aspen Institute, April 16, 2014[22]
  • Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance, World Bank, June 2011[23]
  • Timor-Leste Media Assessment, USAID, February 2006[12]

Articles

  • Community and Communalism in the Information Age, Brown Journal of International Affairs, March 1, 2022[18]
  • The Cutting Edge of Sharp Power, Journal of Democracy, January 2020 (co-authored with Christopher Walker and Jessica Ludwig)[24]
  • Forget Hearts and Minds, Foreign Policy, September 14, 2018 (co-authored with Christopher Walker and Jessica Ludwig)[25]
  • How Democracies Can Fight Authoritarian Sharp Power, Foreign Affairs, August 16, 2018 (co-authored with Christopher Walker and Jessica Ludwig)[26]
  • China in Xi’s “New Era”: Redefining Development, Journal of Democracy, April 2018[27]
  • Dot Com for Dictators, Foreign Policy, November 4, 2009[28]
  • Democrats Vow in Calm Protest To Remain Voice of Hong Kong, Wall Street Journal, July 1, 1997[29]
  • "U.S. Business School Setting Up Program on Chinese Companies", Wall Street Journal, March 17, 1997[30]

Edited Volumes

  • Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, 2013[31]

Reviews

U.S. Congressional Testimonies

  • "Statement by Shanthi Kalathil, Director, International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy, Before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Hearing on "U.S. Responses to China's Foreign Influence Operations"", March 21, 2018[19]

Personal life

Kalathil was raised in the US. Her parents are of Indian and Taiwanese descent. She is married to Jon Wolfsthal.[5][33]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kalathil, Jose (2021-01-25). "American of Taiwanese-Indian descent given role in Biden administration". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  2. ↑ "Shanthi Kalathil to Develop Democracy Program in D.C. – USC Center on Communication Leadership and Policy". communicationleadership.usc.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  3. 1 2 Gramer, Robbie (2023-12-18). "Top White House Human Rights Official Leaving Post". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  4. ↑ Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (February 2, 2021). "Biden's whole-of-National Security Council strategy". Axios. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Kalathil, Jose (2021-01-25). "American of Taiwanese-Indian descent given role in Biden administration". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  6. ↑ "Press Release - President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announce Additional Members of the National Security Council | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  7. ↑ Crowley, Michael (2021-01-08). "Announcing National Security Council staff appointees, Biden restores the office for global health threats". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  8. ↑ Team, Internet. "American of Taiwanese-Indian parentage given role in Biden administration". Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami 駐邁阿密台北經濟文化辦事處. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  9. ↑ "Shanthi Kalathil – USC Center on Communication Leadership and Policy". communicationleadership.usc.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  10. 1 2 "Shanthi Kalathil". blogs.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  11. ↑ "Ms. Shanthi Kalathil". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Timor-Leste Media Assessment" (PDF). USAID. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  13. ↑ Thompson, Alex; Sfondeles, Tina (2021-12-08). "The ex-journo Biden's tapped to confront China". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  14. ↑ "Shanthi Kalathil to Develop Democracy Program in D.C. – USC Center on Communication Leadership and Policy". communicationleadership.usc.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  15. ↑ "Shanthi Kalathil". National Democratic Institute. 2022-09-12. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  16. ↑ "Shanthi Kalathil". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  17. ↑ "RFA Welcomes New Members to its Board". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  18. 1 2 Kalathil, Shanthi (March 1, 2022). "Community and Communalism in the Information Age". Brown Journal of International Affairs. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  19. 1 2 "Statement by Shanthi Kalathil, Director, International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy, Before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Hearing on "U.S. Responses to China's Foreign Influence Operations"" (PDF). congress.gov. March 21, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  20. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi; Boas, Taylor C. (2003). Open networks, closed regimes: the impact of the internet on authoritarian rule. A Carnegie Endowment book (1. print., [Nachdr.] ed.). Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ISBN 978-0-87003-194-6.
  21. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi. "The Evolution of Authoritarian Digital Influence: Grappling with the New Normal" (PDF). National Defense University. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Adapting for the Global Diplomatic Arena: A Report of the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology". The Aspen Institute. 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  23. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi (2011-06-29). Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance: A How-To Guide. The World Bank. doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-8629-3. ISBN 978-0-8213-8629-3.
  24. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi; Ludwig, Jessica; Walker, Christopher (January 2020). "The Cutting Edge of Sharp Power". Journal of Democracy. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  25. ↑ Ludwig, Christopher Walker, Shanthi Kalathil, Jessica (2023-12-18). "Forget Hearts and Minds". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2023-12-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ↑ Walker, Christopher; Kalathil, Shanthi; Ludwig, Jessica (2018-08-16). "How Democracies Can Fight Authoritarian Sharp Power". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  27. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi. "China in Xi's "New Era": Redefining Development". Journal of Democracy. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  28. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi (2009-11-04). "Dot Com for Dictators". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  29. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi (1997-07-01). "Democrats Vow in Calm Protest To Remain Voice of Hong Kong". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  30. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi (1997-03-17). "U.S. Business School Setting Up Program on Chinese Companies". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  31. ↑ "Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age" (PDF). Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  32. ↑ Kalathil, Shanthi (October 2017). "Globalization Chinese-Style". Journal of Democracy. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  33. ↑ Thompson, Alex; Sfondeles, Tina (2021-12-08). "The ex-journo Biden's tapped to confront China". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
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