Ms. Marika Laliashvili is a career diplomat and currently serves as a Senior Counselor at the Embassy of Georgia to the U.S. Her portfolio at the Embassy includes defense and security, counter-terrorism, Euro-Atlantic cooperation and other issues. Prior to her current position, she served as Deputy Director of the Department of Americas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Earlier in her career she also served as Head of the Defense Policy and Planning Department and Head of the International Relations and Euro-Atlantic Integration Department at the Ministry of Defense. Ms. Laliashvili also worked as Head of the Euro-Atlantic Integration Division where she was responsible for coordinating the implementation of defense-related provisions of the national programs for cooperation with NATO. Ms. Laliashvili holds an MA in International Security Studies from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. (2012) and a BA in Public Administration from Georgian Technical University, Tbilisi (2001).