Ellen Bork is an American journalist who writes about American foreign policy, democracy, and human rights. Bork is an attorney with foreign policy experience, whose work largely concerns efforts in Asia. ^{1 2}

As of 2026, Bork sat on the board of the Free Russia Foundation. She was formerly a director of democracy and human rights at the Foreign Policy Initiative and is a former fellow of the George W. Bush Institute. ^{1 2}

Ellen Bork is the daughter of the late Judge Robert Bork. ³

Family

Ellen Bork is the daughter of the late Robert Bork, a conservative and influential legal scholar, a former federal judge, and a former U.S. Solicitor General. Bork was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987 by then-President Ronald Reagan but was met with opposition from liberal activist groups, and ultimately the Senate defeated his nomination. Robert Bork was also a law professor at Yale Law School and his students included former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D). While at Yale, Bork published the book The Antitrust Paradox in 1978 and devised the “consumer welfare standard” model that has governed antitrust law. Bork was also a proponent of the judicial philosophy of originalism, in which legal interpretation of the U.S. Constitution is based on the original public understanding of the text. ³

Ellen Bork’s mother is the late Claire Davidson Bork, who passed away from cancer in 1980. It was with Claire’s support that Robert Bork took his position teaching antitrust law at Yale and with her influence that Robert chose constitutional law, the “most exciting, dynamic, and intellectual field.” ⁴

Education

Ellen Bork received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.  ¹

Career

As of 2026, Ellen Bork was the vice chair of the board of the Free Russia Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to defend democracies against autocratic threats, especially those neighboring Russia. ¹

Ellen Bork formerly worked as the director of democracy and human rights at the now defunct Foreign Policy Initiative, a right-of-center think tank that advocated military interventionism, particularly in Afghanistan. Prior to that, Bork worked as a senior program officer at Freedom House, a U.S.-based NGO founded in 1941 by Eleanor Roosevelt and Wendell Willkie to promote democracy and human rights. ²

Bork is a former fellow of the George W. Bush Institute, a nonpartisan policy organization that advocates for strengthening democracy, ensuring opportunity for all, and advancing free societies. ⁵ Bork is also a former deputy director of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a former adviser to the chair of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, and a former member of the staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for Asia and the Pacific.  ²

Bork has also formerly held positions in the Latin America Bureau at the U.S. Department of State and the International Republican Institute. ⁶

Bork’s writing has been published in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the Weekly Standard.  ²

Political Contributions

Bush – Quayle ’92 Primary Committee (campaign committee)

Elise for Congress (campaign committee)

Marco Rubio for President (campaign committee)

Rees for Congress (campaign committee)

Tom Malinowski for Congress (campaign committee)

1. “Ellen Bork.” Free Russia Foundation. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.4freerussia.org/ellen-bork/.
2. “Ellen Bork.” Foreign Policy Initiative. Archived from the original April 6, 2016. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20160406212457/http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/content/ellen-bork.
3. “About.” Bork Foundation. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://www.borkfoundation.org/about-rhb.html.
4. Beckwith, David. “A Long and Winding Odyssey.” Time, September 21, 1987. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://time.com/archive/6710378/a-long-and-winding-odyssey/.
5. “Ellen Bork.” George W. Bush Presidential Center. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.bushcenter.org/people/ellen-bork.
6. “A Game Winning Piece? The Dalai Lama and Geopolitics of Tibet.” The Center for Strategic and International Studies, February 16, 2021. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://www.csis.org/analysis/game-winning-piece-dalai-lama-and-geopolitics-tibet.