Kelly Alksninis is an emerging professional in the field of diplomatic and cultural studies. Growing up immersed in the Lithuanian American community, Kelly has a strong connection to the post-Soviet region. A graduate from the United States Naval Academy Class of 2022, she earned a BS in History with a minor in Russian. During her time there she spent a semester in Daugavpils, Latvia, honing her Russian language abilities and studying first-hand the lingering impact World War II and the Soviet Occupation has had on the region. In May 2026 she graduated from Georgetown University with an MA in Eurasian, Russian, and Eastern European Studies. She traveled to Armenia in 2025 after being selected to study as an Armenian Foreign Policy expert. Following this, she was given the opportunity to present her research on the connection between Armenian and Lithuanian energy policy at the regional Slavic Studies conference. With six years of experience volunteering and working in museums, Kelly combined her admiration of cultural property with her regional and military expertise in her capstone research, focusing on the weaponization of cultural property in the post-Soviet region.
Kelly Alksninis
Lecture Series: My Land, My Decision: How Russia and Azerbaijan Are Treating Cultural Property in Contested Territory (September 9)