Erika Lafrennie is a geopolitical strategist and the creator of Xinanigans, a premium intelligence brief that decodes China’s internal logic from doctrine and narrative warfare to elite decision-making. Built for national security leaders and risk-focused executives, Xinanigans maps the strategic worldview behind Beijing’s most consequential moves.

Erika brings two decades of experience in US intelligence and high-trust strategic advisory, including support to special operations and interagency efforts across more than 40 countries. Her expertise fuses adversary psychology, systems-level foresight, and narrative terrain mapping to help decision-makers operate ahead of the threat.

She is also the founder of Cypher Strategies, a bespoke advisory practice offering discreet engagements for clients confronting China-driven risk, cognitive conflict, or strategic ambiguity. Through Cypher Strategies, Erika applies the frameworks behind Xinanigans to board-level decisions, war gaming, and narrative threat modeling.

Erika previously held a non-resident fellowship at Joint Special Operations University, where she focused on strategy in great power competition.

Earlier in her career, she co-founded Luminae Group, the first wholly woman-owned geopolitical risk firm in the US, and held senior intelligence roles serving the Department of Defense and the broader interagency, shaping national security strategy at the highest levels.

She has advised families of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, and remains committed to applying her strategic frameworks in support of efforts where human lives and global politics intersect.

Erika holds an M.A. in Strategic Intelligence and Middle Eastern Studies from American Military University, with additional study at the University of St. Andrews and the Arabic Language Institute in Fes, Morocco.