Esther McClure is a Senior Fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). 

McClure led development DoD’s 2013, 2016, and 2024 Arctic Strategies.  She was the first director for Arctic and Oceans Policy, a position she held from July 2022 to January 2025.   

Before standing up the Arctic and Oceans Policy team, she served as the Director for North & West Europe from 2015-2022, directly supporting the Secretary of Defense in all trips and meetings with interlocutors from Northwestern Europe (including Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK) through numerous international crises.  She was the Country Director for Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands from 2013-2015.  She also served as the Chief of Staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and was a team leader in the Strategy Office.   

McClure retired from the Navy in 2010 after 22 years of service, including ship deployments in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, and EARNEST WILL.  During her 11 years at sea, she served in five ships in positions including as Damage Control Assistant, Navigator, Chief Engineer, Executive Officer, and Commanding Officer of an Aegis destroyer.   

She also served as a NATO operational planner and did two tours in the Pentagon on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in OPNAV N81 as a capabilities and requirements analyst.  

McClure earned a Bachelor of Journalism Summa cum Laude from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Marine Affairs Summa cum Laude from the University of Rhode Island.