FIONA HILL
Fiona Hill is a British-American foreign affairs expert who specializes in Russian and European affairs. Born in northern England to a working-class family—her father was a coal miner and her mother a midwife—Fiona’s early life was shaped by the challenges of deindustrialization in Britain's coal country. She describes herself as "a product of the 'Labour Party at work,'" benefiting from the welfare state infrastructure and collective institutions that provided pathways to opportunity.
A crucial grant from the Durham Miners' Association helped fund her language studies, opening doors that would have otherwise remained closed to a girl from the coal-house.
Fiona pursued higher education with determination, attending St. Andrews University in Scotland, where she received her master's degree in Russian and modern history. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1998. Her academic foundation led to a distinguished career in intelligence and foreign policy, serving as National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council from 2006 to 2009 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. She later became Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs on the National Security Council under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019.
Fiona gained widespread public recognition when she testified during the 2019 impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Her testimony was noted for its clarity, composure, and nonpartisan approach to explaining Russia's interference in U.S. elections and foreign policy concerns.
Her appearance before Congress represented more than expert testimony—it was an act of democratic accountability and a defense of fact-based governance. Following her testimony, Hill continued to advocate for strengthening democracy both domestically and internationally, expressing concern that political leaders were failing to do enough to counter democratic decline. In 2021, she stated publicly that she believes American democracy is "in danger" and that "danger is increasing by the day, because we're constantly seeing other political figures trying to emulate Trump."
As an academic, Fiona has authored several influential books, including co-authoring “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin,” which provides penetrating analysis of Russian leadership. Her bestselling memoir "There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century" connects her personal journey of social mobility with broader political and economic issues affecting working-class communities across the United States, United Kingdom, and Russia. The book examines the political effects of de-industrialization and argues that the pathway of educational opportunity that transformed her life has become increasingly difficult to replicate—a closing of doors that threatens both social justice and democratic stability.
In December 2022, Fiona Hill delivered the prestigious BBC Reith Lecture on "Freedom from Fear" to an audience of over 200 million people worldwide, examining how knowledge and education serve as antidotes to fear and manipulation by authoritarian regimes. Drawing on her experience growing up during the Cold War with fears of nuclear war, she analyzed how Russia's war in Ukraine reflects renewed threats to global democracy and security.
Throughout her career, Fiona has been passionate about expanding educational access as a means of promoting social mobility and strengthening democratic societies. In 2022, having moved "literally from the coal-house to the White House," she returned to her former secondary school to encourage students to grasp "every educational opportunity" and expressed her desire to "give back" to the area where she grew up. In her 2024 Tufts University commencement address, Hill emphasized that "education is the great social and economic equalizer" and urged graduates to "expand education in all forms to all the other people that you meet, because other people need a chance to move ahead as well."
Throughout her career, Hill has been respected across political lines for her deep expertise on Russia, analytical skills, and commitment to fact-based assessments. Her work has contributed significantly to U.S. foreign policy discourse while championing the causes of educational opportunity, social mobility, and the defense of democratic institutions against authoritarian threats both abroad and at home.
