Christopher Walker serves as the Vice President at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Prior to joining CEPA, he was Vice President for Studies and Analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy. In that role, Walker oversaw the multidimensional department responsible for NED’s analytical and thought leadership efforts, which maps and explores critical themes relating to democratic development, including those relating to the modern information and emerging technology spheres, as well as foreign authoritarian influence. He also oversaw the Journal of Democracy, the world’s leading publication on the theory and practice of democracy; and the Reagan-Fascell fellowship program for international democracy activists, media professionals, and scholars. Prior to joining NED, Walker was Vice President for Strategy and Analysis at Freedom House.

Walker has testified before legislative committees in the US and abroad, appears frequently in the media, and conducts briefings on a range of critical issues. He has been at the forefront of the thought leadership on modern authoritarian influence, including through the exertion of sharp power, a concept he and his colleagues developed. Walker has served as an Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at New York University.

He holds a BA degree from Binghamton University and an MA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.  His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, El Pais, Il Foglio, Politico, Foreign Policy, and the Journal of Democracy. He is co-editor (with Larry Diamond and Marc Plattner) of Authoritarianism Goes Global: The Challenge to Democracy (2016); and co-editor with William J. Dobson and Tarek Masoud of the book Defending Democracy in an Age of Sharp Power (2023).