Caroline Rose

Caroline Rose is the director of the Crime-Conflict Nexus and Military Withdrawals portfolios at the New Lines Institute, where she leads and produces research on the intersection of defense, security, illicit trades, and geopolitical landscapes. Previously at the institute, Rose served as the head of the Power Vacuums Program. She has also served as an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, teaching a graduate course on the nexus of illicit economies, armed conflict, and insecurity.  She is a recipient of the Middle East Policy Center’s 2025 40 Under 40 Awards.

Prior to joining the New Lines Institute, Rose served as an analyst at the forecasting firm and publication Geopolitical Futures, where she worked on political, economic, and defense developments in the Middle East and Europe, with a focus on the Mediterranean and the Levant. She is also the author of a special policy report on the trade of the illicit drug captagon in the Mediterranean and Gulf and its effect on security challenges – a culmination of her studies and field work as research associate for the LSE International Drug Policy Unit’s Middle East Initiative. 

Rose has repeatedly briefed U.S. and allied ministries, intelligence agencies, embassies, and legislative bodies on the captagon drug trade and insecurity in the Middle East, and their effects on U.S. and partner interests. She has authored special reports and advised organizations like the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union, offering expertise on the crime-conflict nexus and synthetic drug trades in the Middle East. She has also testified before the British Parliament, providing expert evidence on the captagon trade in Syria. Her commentary and work on defense issues, security challenges, and geopolitical developments have been featured in The Washington Post, CNN, BBC News, NBC News, PBS, The Sunday Times, Foreign Policy, Politico, Al Jazeera, BBC World Service, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, Australian Broadcasting Company, The Financial Times, The Independent, and other outlets.   

Rose holds a master of science in International History from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor of arts in International Studies from the American University’s School of International Service. She tweets at @CarolineRose8 and is on Bluesky at carolinerose8.bsky.social.