Vlasta Zekulic is a Senior Fellow in the Transatlantic Defense and Security (TDS) program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Following graduation from The Citadel in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Zekulic was commissioned as an infantry officer to the Croatian Armed Forces, where she held numerous command and staff positions and deployed several times to operational theaters. During this period she also earned her MA and PhD in international relations and national security.

She served two consecutive tours in NATO military commands before transitioning to the NATO HQ Operations Division in 2017 to lead work on posture management, deterrence messaging, and political-military assessments of conventional and hybrid challenges. In July 2021, Zekulic returned to Allied Command Transformation to lead the Strategic Issues and Engagements Branch.

As of June 2025, she serves as Director for Strategic Management and Communications, leading coordination of all internal management processes, including aligning priorities, optimizing resources, and overseeing performance. She is also responsible for delivering all command promotion and influence activities.