Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously, she was the co-founder and CEO of the center-left foreign policy group Truman National Security Project.

Kleinfeld published an article in July 2022 for the left-of-center website Just Security that claimed that factions of the Republican Party were aligning themselves with extremist “militia” groups. She drew comparisons between the Republican Party and more violent and unstable countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Colombia, and Nigeria. ¹

Kleinfeld is also a part of the National Task Force on Election Crises, an ostensibly cross-partisan group in support of securing elections in the wake of foreign hacking and the COVID-19 pandemic. The group opposes voter integrity laws and supports federalization of U.S. elections. ²

Early Life

Kleinfeld grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska in a log house on a dirt road. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. ³

Truman National Security Project

After the defeat of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, Kleinfeld and others established an organization to help young progressives articulate alternatives to GOP defense policies. That organization became the Truman National Security Project and Kleinfeld served as its founding CEO. ⁴

Over her decade as CEO, she built an organization with over 80,000 supporters and chapters in most American cities. She also helped numerous candidates for office on the national, state, and local level. The organization also lobbied for legislation on the state and national level. ⁵

Other Foreign Policy Work

From 2011-2014, Kleinfeld served on the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, which advises the Secretary of State quarterly. ⁶

In February 2013, she wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal urging the U.S. to arm some Syrian rebel groups. She saw it as a way to help topple the Syrian regime and deny Iran an ally in the Middle East. ⁷

In September 2013, she wrote an op-ed for the New York Daily News urging U.S. military intervention in the civil war in Syria. She also claimed that not acting in Syria would be a boost to Iran and other foreign jihadists who working in the country. ⁸

Kleinfeld has sat on the boards of the left-of-center organizations Freedom House, Protect Democracy, and States United. ⁹

2020 Election

During the 2020 election cycle, Kleinfeld joined the National Task Force on Election Crises, which was an ostensibly cross-partisan organization that worked to secure elections from foreign hacking and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other potential crises. The task force’s membership is mostly Democratic and it supports Democratic policy proposals such as election nationalization, and opposes voter integrity laws. ¹⁰

In May 2020, Kleinfeld and her more conservative brother Joshua wrote an op-ed that was published in the conservative magazine National Review that urged states to expand absentee and mail-in voting in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. They urged the federal government to fund efforts on the state level to expand absentee and mail voting. However, they urged the inclusion of sunset clauses that would end these expansions after the 2020 election. ¹¹

Accusing GOP of Extremist Ties

In July 2022, Kleinfeld wrote an op-ed for the left-of-center website Just Security that accused the Republican Party of incorporating far-right militias in its ranks. She alleged that “militia” groups alleged to be involved in the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, had developed close ties with some in the Republican Party and asserted that various Republican Party officials have recruited “militia” members and even hired “militia” groups for security. ¹²

She compared the incorporation of militias into political parties to practices in failing states such as Iraq, Lebanon, Colombia, and Nigeria where politicians used militias to seize power and intimidate opponents. ¹³

1. Kleinfeld, Rachel. “The GOP’s Militia Problem: Proud Boys, Oath Keepers And Lessons From Abroad.” Just Security. July 6, 2022 https://www.justsecurity.org/81898/the-gops-militia-problem-proud-boys-oath-keepers-and-lessons-from-abroad/.
2. “Members.” National Task Force On Election Crises. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://www.electiontaskforce.org/members.
3. “About.” Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://rachelkleinfeld.com/about/.
4. “40 Under 40.” TIME. Accessed July 25, 2022. http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2023831_2023829_2025216,00.html.
5.  “About.” Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://rachelkleinfeld.com/about/.
6. About.” Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://rachelkleinfeld.com/about/.
7. Kleinfeld, Rachel. “The Case For Arming Syrian Rebels.” Carnegie Endowment For International Peace. Feb. 24, 2013. https://carnegieendowment.org/2013/02/24/case-for-arming-syrian-rebels-pub-51037.
8. Kleinfeld, Rachel. “Intervene In Syria, And Do It Smartly.” New York Daily News. Sept. 11, 2013. https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/intervene-syria-smartly-article-1.1451433.
9. “About.” Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://rachelkleinfeld.com/about/.
10. “Members.” National Task Force On Election Crises. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://www.electiontaskforce.org/members.
11. Kleinfeld, Rachel, and Joshua Kleinfeld. “How To Save The November Election.” National Review. May 21, 2020. https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/how-to-save-the-november-election/.
12. Kleinfeld, Rachel. “The GOP’s Militia Problem: Proud Boys, Oath Keepers And Lessons From Abroad.” Just Security. July 6, 2022. https://www.justsecurity.org/81898/the-gops-militia-problem-proud-boys-oath-keepers-and-lessons-from-abroad/.
13. Kleinfeld, Rachel. “The GOP’s Militia Problem: Proud Boys, Oath Keepers And Lessons From Abroad.” Just Security. July 6, 2022. https://www.justsecurity.org/81898/the-gops-militia-problem-proud-boys-oath-keepers-and-lessons-from-abroad/.