NATO

Dr. Claudia Major is GMF's senior vice president overseeing transatlantic security initiatives and is an executive team member. Previously, Dr. Major was the director of the International Security Division at the German think tank Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin. Her research, advisory work, and publications focus on the field of German security and defense policy, European security and defense policy (NATO, the EU, role of the United States), deterrence and nuclear (dis)order, and the Franco-German relationship. Currently, she is particularly focused on the repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine for Europe, the transatlantic relationship, the nuclear order, and international relations; options to end the war in Ukraine; and how to ensure the long-term security of Europe and Ukraine.

Dr. Major previously held positions at the Center for Security Studies at the ETH Zurich, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the EU Institute for Security Studies (Paris), the NATO Department of the German Foreign Office, and Sciences Po Paris. She was and is a member of various committees, such as the Advisory Board for Civilian Crisis Prevention of the German Federal Foreign Office (2010–2024), the Advisory Board of the Federal Ministry of Defense on "leadership development and civic education" (Innere Führung) (since 2023) and the German-British Königswinter Conference. She holds a diploma from the Free University of Berlin and Sciences Po Paris and a PhD from the University of Birmingham (UK).

Dr. Major was made a Knight of the French Order of Merit (Chevalier dans l'ordre national du Mérite) and has been awarded the Estonian Cross of Merit.

Jana Ondraskova is a Washington, DC-based program assistant on the Geostrategy North team. She provides programming and research support on Nordic, Arctic, and transatlantic security issues. Prior to joining GMF, she was a research associate at Business Executives for National Security, where she worked on US shipyard modernization, the US role in West Africa, and broader energy security and defense questions. She was a trainee at EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy.

Ondraskova is also a research affiliate at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, where she analyzes Arctic security.

Ondraskova holds a master’s degree in security policy studies from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Her work there focused on hybrid threats against undersea infrastructure, the future of Nordic and Arctic security, great-power competition, and counterterrorism strategies affecting the “Global South”. She also holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in international relations from the University of New York in Prague and the other in public Affairs from Empire State University.