Dr. Joanna Siekiera, an expert in international law—including the law of armed conflict and the law of the sea—and Pacific regionalism, is from Poland. She works as a consultant, keynote speaker, and researcher for various international institutions, primarily NATO, where she educates on legal warfare (lawfare) and legal culture in armed conflict. She is a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative in Washington, D.C., and the Indo-Pacific Studies Center in Melbourne, Australia. She previously served as a fellow at the U.S. Marine Corps University’s Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare in Quantico, Virginia, and as a legal advisor to NATO and the Polish War Studies University in Warsaw, Poland.
Siekiera has advising experience with the Polish government, including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Higher Education, as well as diplomatic practice at Polish missions in Tallinn, Estonia; Toronto, Canada; and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin, Germany. She has trained armed forces in international humanitarian law at the Finnish Defense Forces International Centre in Helsinki, Finland; Gujarat National Law University in India (Indian Navy and Coast Guard); NATO Maritime Security Centre of Excellence in Istanbul, Türkiye; NATO Stability Policing Centre of Excellence in Vicenza, Italy; and the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Her postdoctoral research (2019–2023) focused on the legal consequences of ocean change in Oceania at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Norway. In July and August 2022, she sailed across the Pacific Ocean, teaching maritime security, sustainable ocean development, and the law of the sea. Siekiera completed her Ph.D. studies (2015–2016) in Pacific regionalism at the Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, following doctoral visits (2015) to the Faculties of Law at the University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, University of Waikato, and Victoria University of Wellington. She defended her doctoral thesis in 2017, titled “Regional Policy of the States in the South Pacific: Integrative Aspects of Pacific Regionalism,” at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland.
Siekiera holds a Master of Arts degree (2013) in administration in international organizations, taught in English at the Faculty of Law, Administration, and Economics, University of Wrocław, Poland, where she was recognized as the best alumna and awarded for her thesis, “International Cooperation Among States in the South Pacific Region.” She also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (2011) in public administration at the University of Wrocław, receiving recognition for her thesis, “Establishing and Maintaining Diplomatic Relations Between States: The Example of the Republic of Poland and New Zealand.”
Driven by her mission to “Make A Change,” Siekiera shares her passion for international law and the Indo-Pacific. She has authored more than 100 scientific publications in several languages, edited 13 monographs on international law, international relations, and security (for NATO, USMC, and Routledge), appeared in 90 international television, radio, and podcast interviews, and spoken at more than 140 international symposia. She speaks eight languages.
