Lydia LaFavor

Dr. Lydia LaFavor is a research fellow at the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where she focuses on the U.S. defense industrial base, weapons development, arms sales, and defense policy. 

Prior to joining FDD, her dissertation research encompassed the origins of the Russian aerospace defense industrial base, infrared-guided tactical missile development, and transnational air defense technopolitics. Lydia served in the United States Air Force for seven years as an intelligence officer. Her time on active duty included deployments to the Horn of Africa and Afghanistan in support of Air Force special operations aviation and an assignment in the Republic of Korea in support of Air Force conventional aviation operations.

Lydia holds a B.S. in History and a minor in Russian from the United States Air Force Academy, an M.A. in Intelligence Studies from American Military University, and a Ph.D. in History from Auburn University. She conducts research in Russian, Greek, and Spanish.