Megi Benia is Founder and Director of the Strategic Security Initiative (SSI), an independent policy research initiative focused on international security and strategic affairs. She is a former Georgian diplomat and security and foreign policy professional specializing in Russia’s influence operations, NATO’s collective defense posture, international cybersecurity, resilience, and transatlantic affairs.

In addition she serves as a Contributing Editor of New Eastern Europe and Associate Fellow at the University of Georgia’s Security, Policy and Nationalism Research Center (UGSPN). She is also a member of the EU CyberNet Expert Pool and a PhD candidate researching the applicability of collective defense to cyberspace within NATO’s strategic doctrine.

As a researcher and public commentator, she analyzes Russia’s evolving hybrid toolkit, U.S.-Russia strategic competition, and European security. Her work contributes to international policy discussions through publications, expert commentary, conference engagement, and teaching. She has authored multiple works on Euro-Atlantic security, cyber diplomacy, resilience, disinformation, NATO adaptation, and arms control.