Erin Lynn Sindle

Erin Sindle is a Handsel-funded PhD candidate who specializes in Russian foreign policy, with a focus on Russian influence operations, disinformation, strategic communication, and non-state actors in sub-Saharan Africa. Her work examines Russian contemporary statecraft, information warfare, and geopolitical subversion through the integration of informational, institutional, and economic mechanisms to achieve durable influence abroad. Her research draws primarily on Russian governmental, strategic, and academic writings, which allows for the reconstruction of epistemologies, doctrines, and operational methods from within Russia’s own strategic discourse.

Prior to beginning her PhD, she served as a research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses, where her research focused on Russian geopolitical strategy in Africa, Russian non-state actors, and Russian-Chinese military cooperation and competition in Africa. Prior to this, she served as a country risk analyst, tracking geopolitical, military, and economic developments in Afghanistan, Pakistan and South-Central Asia. She has also served in previous roles with the U.S. Department of Defense, IHS Jane's, and NATO.

Erin holds a Master of Arts degree in War Studies from King's College London, where she graduated with distinction, and speaks German, French, and Russian.