Anderson is the former president of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and former chair of the board of the Social Science Research Council.[5] Anderson is also a former member of the Council of the American Political Science Association and served on the board of the Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Affairs.[6] She is member emerita of the board of Human Rights Watch, where she served as co-chair of Human Rights Watch/Middle East, co-chair of the International Advisory Board of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and member of the International Advisory Council of the World Congress for Middle East Studies.[7] She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[8]