Shanthi Kalathil

Shanthi Kalathil
Official portrait, 2021
Born	1972 (age 51–52)
Nationality	American
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA), London School of Economics (MSc)
Occupation(s)	Foreign policy specialist, human rights advocate, former journalist
Employer	University of Southern California
Board member of	National Democratic Institute, Radio Free Asia
Spouse	Jon Wolfsthal

Shanthi Kalathil (born 1972)^[1] is an American foreign policy specialist and former journalist, currently serving as a Washington D.C.-based senior fellow at the University of Southern California's Center on Communication Leadership and Policy and a visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy, where her work focuses on strengthening global democratic resilience in countering authoritarian influence. She is also a board member of the National Democratic Institute and Radio Free Asia.

Kalathil 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. Prior to this, Kalathil was a fellow at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal Asia in Hong Kong.

Her co-authored 2003 book, Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule, explores technology’s role in advancing the objectives and bolstering the legitimacy of authoritarian regimes.