Strategic Analyst
Benedetta Girardi is Strategic Analyst and Programme Coordinator of HCSS Europe in the Indo-Pacific Programme. Her research focuses on geopolitics and geoeconomics, with particular attention to the role of small and middle powers in an evolving international order, EU policy, and economic and technological security.
Her work examines how middle powers navigate an increasingly fragmented international order and how Europe can strengthen resilience through partnerships with emerging middle powers, especially in the Indo-Pacific. In connection to this, she also researches the security of strategic supply chains, including semiconductors and critical raw materials, and the implications of technological and resource dependencies for economic and defence security, including critical raw materials for defence and high-tech supply-chain resilience.
Alongside these areas, she works on maritime security (with a focus on the resilience of maritime chokepoints and the maritime commons, including maritime security cooperation with rising middle powers) and hybrid threats (with a focus on Chinese hybrid threats).
Before working at HCSS, Benedetta was a Regulatory Policy Analyst at Reckitt Benckiser, where she focused on EU-related regulatory developments, including the European Green Deal and its implications for supply chains. She holds an MSc in European Affairs (cum laude) from Sciences Po Paris, specializing in politics and public policy, and a BA in International Studies (cum laude) from Leiden University and McGill University in Canada.
