Christine Balling

Christine Balling joined the American Foreign Policy Council as Senior Fellow for Latin American Affairs in May 2015. She is the founder of Fundación ECCO, a Colombian-registered nonprofit organization that promoted democracy and youth leadership in areas of conflict. In 2014, the Colombian Army incorporated Ms. Balling’s community-relations model into the non-kinetic component of its mission.

Ms. Balling has lectured at the Escuela Superior de Guerra (ESDEGUE) in Bogotá, Colombia, and at the National Defense University’s William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. She has served as a Subject Matter Expert to the U.S. Special Operations South (SOCSOUTH) Commander on demobilization and counter-recruitment issues, and has worked with the Colombian Military’s Demobilization Group (GAHD) to create the first Tactical Guide on Demobilization.

She has written for Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, Small Wars Journal and the Journal of International Security Affairs. She serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Universidad El Bosque in Bogotá, Colombia.

Ms. Balling earned her BA in English Literature from Barnard College, Columbia University and an Executive MA in National Security Affairs from the Institute of World Politics.