Director of Research and Policy Analyst, Security and Foreign Affairs
Sierra Janik is Director of Research and a Policy Analyst on the Security and Foreign Affairs team at the Commission, where she conducts research and oversees the Commission’s contracted research agenda. Before joining the Commission staff in 2020, Sierra worked as a research assistant at the China-Africa Research Initiative and interned with the Project 2049 Institute and the East-West Center in Washington. She earned a Master of Arts degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with concentrations in China Studies and International Economics. She also holds a graduate certificate from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University. Sierra is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.
Areas of Interest and Expertise
- CCP political structure, decision-making, and ideology (supported 2022 hearing)
- China’s global foreign policy ambitions (supported 2021 hearing)
- China’s push for leadership in international security affairs (supported 2023 hearing)
- China-Europe and China-EU relations (supported 2023 hearing)
- China’s activities and influence in the Pacific Islands (supported 2022 hearing)
- China’s activities and influence in Latin America and the Caribbean (supported 2021 hearing)
- China’s territorial and maritime claims in the South and East China Seas