Dr. Seema Gahlaut

Strategic Trade Control Specialist


Dr. Seema Gahlaut has over 20 years of experience in research and analysis on a range of issues related to technology security (dual-use and military export controls, sanctions, supply chain security, international treaties, UNSC Resolutions, multilateral agreements, and compliance). She has leveraged this expertise while conducting  training and outreach to government officials and corporate leaders  in 70+ countries. She is a Member of Export Controls Expert Group (2008 – present) at the Council for Security and Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), and of the Working Group on CBRN in Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS). She was also a Co-Chair (2021-22) of Proliferation Finance Workstream, Association of Certified Anti Money-laundering Specialists (ACAMS).
Seema’s prior experience includes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [Lab Lead for International Nonproliferation Export Control Program (INECP)]; the Henry L. Stimson Center [Director, Strategic Trade Management Initiative (STMI), and Senior Fellow, Trade, Technology and Security Program (TTS)]; and  Center for International Trade and Security (CITS) at the University of Georgia [Assistant Director, Training and Outreach].
Seema has conducted training and outreach for governments and industry around theworld, under numerous projects funded by Departments of State (EXBS, CTR) and Energy (INECP and national labs), United States Institute of Peace, and private foundations (Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation, Smith Richardson, Rockefeller Fund, and Japan Center for Global Partnership).
Her training and organizational experience has included over 25 sessions of the Security and Strategic Trade Management Academy (SSTMA) between 2007 and 2021, funded by EXBS and designed for foreign government officials who are tasked with establishing national strategic trade management systems and complying with UNSCR 1540. In April 2021, she organized the first ever virtual SSTMA. More than 2000 officials from 70+ countries, including numerous EXBS advisors, have gone through the SSTMA trainings, and provided near-unanimous positive evaluations about the quality of content. Seema has also designed and conducted customized training to government officials and industry from China, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, UAE and Vietnam on STC, CBRN security and international sanctions.
In addition, Seema helped draft a 1540-relevant STC law for CARICOM countries, to utilize as a base for their individual legal adaptations. She has recently concluded a survey of 1540 Points of Contact and a series of interactions with Indian bio-scientists and industry, exploring post-COVID bio-security challenges and opportunities. She has participated in numerous discussions on the importance of government-industry and government- academia partnerships in regulating dual-use materials and technologies, especially with reference to intangible technology transfers.

Her current research focus is on the feasibility of multilateral standards on implementing sanctions and related issues of technology transfers and supply chain security. She is exploring how e-tools and blockchain technology can be harnessed to strengthen national and regional responses to STC and sanctions compliance in this regard.