Kristen Einerston

Dr. Kristen M. Einertson is a postdoctoral fellow with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. A rhetorician of U.S.–Eastern Europe foreign policy discourse, her research examines how diaspora advocacy shaped American engagement and public discourse during the late Cold War—particularly the struggle of the Baltic states for freedom and independence. Her work traces how Baltic-American leaders built relationships across presidential administrations; strategically drew on established political rhetoric and U.S. historical commitments; and leveraged commemoration, media, and cultural diplomacy to keep Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the U.S. foreign policy agenda. Her work has appeared in leading journals in her field, including Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies and Argumentation & Advocacy.

Her book project, Lobbying for Liberty: The Baltic Diaspora and Rhetorical Leverage in U.S. Foreign Policy in the Late Cold War, explores the role of the Joint Baltic American National Committee, the central Baltic-interests lobbying organization that coordinated with state and non-state actors to influence late–Cold War policy toward the region. Pulling from archives across the world, her research has received national and international recognition across the fields of rhetoric, communication, and history.

Kristen teaches at the University of St. Thomas and holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from the University of Minnesota. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she lived in Rīga, Latvia, as a Fulbright Student in 2018–2019.