Lauren Barney is a research analyst at SOSi, where she focuses on national security topics. Prior to joining SOSi, Lauren spent time at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Commerce where she briefed high-level officials on economic and trade issues between the U.S., China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. She earned a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Conflict Management and a graduate certificate from the Hopkins Nanjing Center in Chinese Studies, with a focus on geopolitical resource conflict and multi-party negotiations. Lauren is proficient in Mandarin, Persian (Farsi), and Hebrew. She is a 2020 energy security fellow at Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), and a 2021-2022 Alexander Hamilton Society Security and Strategy Seminar Fellow.