One of this country's most eminent scholars of the Middle East and North Africa, Anderson's academic specialty is state formation and regime change. She is the author of The State and Social Transformation in Tunisia and Libya, 1830-1980 (1986), co-editor of The Origins of Arab Nationalism (1991) and editor of Transitions to Democracy (1999), and has written more than 35 scholarly articles. She has testified before the Foreign Relations Committees of both the House and the Senate, published commentary in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and has appeared as an expert on the news programs of the major television and radio networks.

Anderson holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She earned a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University, where she also received a Certificate from the Middle East Institute. From 1981 to 1986, she was an assistant professor of government and social studies at Harvard University.

In addition to her responsibilities at Columbia, Anderson is on the board of directors of the Social Science Research Council and of Human Rights Watch, where she serves as co-chair of Human Rights Watch/Middle East. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the editorial committee of Comparative Politics.