Haleigh Bartos
Associate Professor of the Practice Carnegie Mellon University
Biography
Areas of Expertise
Media Appearances
The Waiting Game: Signposts of Russia’s Coming Failure in Africa
Small Wars Journal online
2026-01-01
Russia has expanded its footprint in Africa in recent years. In the wake of a wave of coups since 2020, Russia used social media disinformation to stoke anti-French sentiment and offer military aid to become the security partner of choice for a number of regimes, most notably the members of the new Sahel Alliance formed in 2023 by juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. By 2024, Russian mercenary forces had established a clear presence in six countries.
Tell Me How This Ends: Six Questions That Will Shape the Outcome of the US-Israeli Operations Against Iran
Modern War Institute online
2026-03-04
“Tell me how this ends.”
Those were the words of David Petraeus, then a major general and the commander of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, uttered just days after his division entered Iraq as part of the US-led invasion.
What Happened to Transnational Terrorism?
Modern War Institute online
2025-12-18
The United States has a new National Security Strategy (NSS), and for the first time in decades, transnational terrorism is almost entirely absent from it. The strategy, released in mid-December by President Donald Trump’s second administration, describes Islamist terrorist activity is simply something Washington “must remain wary of . . . in parts of Africa”—on the document’s very last page. Terrorism “might force our urgent attention,” the strategy notes, but it is far from its focus.
Mali is at a turning point that risks a ‘disastrous domino effect’
Atlantic Council online
2025-11-25
Mali’s military regime may be on the brink of collapse after a months-long siege of Bamako by al-Qaeda aligned terrorists, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). A major nationwide fuel crisis in the landlocked state, due to a blockade (which JNIM expanded on November 1) of fuel imports that must travel along major highways patrolled by militants, forced Mali to close schools from late October to mid-November.
The Bartos Cycle: Preparing Students for the Professional World
Carnegie Mellon University online
2025-05-21
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) students preparing to enter the workforce are fortunate to be able to turn to the professional expertise of Haleigh Bartos. An associate professor of the practice at Carnegie Mellon Institute of Strategy and Technology (CMIST), Bartos brings to her role more than a decade of policy experience working in Washington, DC. In response to student concerns regarding current employment fragility, she offered a CMIST Summer Internship Workshop last month to help students maximize opportunities, garner search tactics, and develop strategies to optimize their break.
How Drones Make Civil Wars Worse
Lawfare online
2025-03-16
Observers of Ukraine and other wars all point out how drones have transformed the conflict. They may have an even bigger impact, however, in other parts of the world. Joshua Schwartz, John Chin, and Haleigh Bartos argue that drones are transforming conflicts around the world, making them longer, more deadly, harder to resolve, and more likely to involve outside intervention.
The Congo’s Fork in the Road: If the West Won’t Intervene, Russia Will
Modern War Institute online
2025-02-26
The offer represents an opportunity for the United States and other Western democratic partners to deepen relations with Kinshasa, gain access to critical minerals, partially mitigate fallout of recent Western retreat from the Sahel, and stem rising authoritarian influence in Africa. Such a win-win deal would be consistent with a US Africa strategy that “puts America and its interests first.” But there is another dimension that should not be ignored: if the United States does not “get to yes” with Kinshasa, there is a large risk that it could turn to Russia.
Media
Social
Education
University of Pittsburgh
M.S.W.
Social Work
University of Pittsburgh
B.S.
Pscyhology
