Laura K. Cooper is a Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Cooper teaches at Georgetown University's Security Studies Program and advises companies and organizations on risks related to Russia's war in Ukraine, European and Eurasian security, and defense policy. She speaks frequently to academic, corporate, government, and media audiences. Cooper is a Senior Advisor to the US-Ukraine Business Council and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Cooper served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia from 2017 to 2025, where she led the US government team that delivered billions in wartime security assistance to Ukraine and orchestrated the 50-nation Ukraine Defense Contact Group to catalyze international assistance. A career member of the Senior Executive Service, she was the top Pentagon strategist on Russia and strengthened US defense relationships across the region, including the Caucasus, Central Asia, Moldova, and the Western Balkans.

Over more than 25 years of federal service, Cooper spearheaded portfolios spanning strategy, homeland defense, stability operations, and counterterrorism, and she served on the faculty of the National War College. Before joining the Department of Defense, she was a policy planning officer at the State Department and a Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.