Carlota García Encina is Senior Fellow for the United States and Transatlantic Relations at the Elcano Royal Institute (Madrid), Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, Washington DC), and Lecturer in International Relations at Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Her work focuses on U.S. foreign and defense policy, transatlantic relations, strategic competition, alliance politics, and the evolving nature of American leadership. She analyzes the intersection between U.S. domestic political dynamics and global strategy, with particular attention to the implications for Europe, NATO, and Spain. Her research also examines industrial and defense policy, burden-sharing debates, democratic resilience, and the impact of U.S. electoral cycles on international stability. At Elcano, she has played a central role in shaping the Institute’s analysis of the United States and its global posture. She regularly advises public and private sector stakeholders on transatlantic relations and strategic affairs and participates in high-level dialogues across Europe and North America. Since 2018, she has coordinated the Strategic Dialogue Spain–Israel, promoting sustained policy exchange between government officials, experts, and strategic communities. García Encina began her professional career in security and defense affairs at the Spanish Ministry of Defence, where she worked as International Media Officer for the Spanish Defence Review. This early experience grounded her expertise in military policy, defense institutions, and strategic communications. She holds a PhD (cum laude) in Contemporary History from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED). She earned a Master’s degree in Security and Defence from the Spanish National Defence Studies Centre (CESEDEN) and Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and graduated in Strategy and Defence Policy from the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University (Washington DC). She has also participated in the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on U.S. midterm elections and election integrity. In addition to her policy work, she lectures on International Relations, geopolitics, international strategy, and U.S. foreign policy. She has published extensively in academic journals and collective volumes and is a regular commentator in Spanish and international media on U.S. politics, transatlantic affairs, and global strategic trends.