Welcome.
I am Provost Associate Professor at American University in the School of International Service and the Director of the Research on International Policy Implementation Lab (RIPIL).
Research Lab
In June 2020, I launched the Research on International Policy Implementation Lab (RIPIL) which investigates pressing topics in international peace, security, development, and humanitarian response with the aim of translating rigorous research into real policy solutions.
LATEST BOOK
Global Governance and Local Peace: Accountability and Performance in International Peacebuilding
In this book, I argue that international peacebuilding organizations repeatedly fail because they are accountable to global actors, not to local institutions or people. International peacebuilding can succeed only when country-based staff bypass existing accountability structures and empower local stakeholders to hold their global organizations accountable for achieving local-level peacebuilding outcomes. In other words, the innovative, if seemingly wayward, actions of individual country-office staff are necessary to improve peacebuilding performance.
News and Updates
October 2024: Published blog post on Evaluation.gov on Increasing Evidence Use through Research-Policy Partnerships, describing RIPIL’s partnership with the US Department of State.
October 2024: Awarded (Co-Principal Investigator) $500,000 grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York for global research project on How Security Programs in Disordered States Shape the Global Order, led by Aila Matanock at the University of California, Berkeley.
June 2024: Article published in Review of International Organizations entitled Weapons of the Weak State: How Post-conflict States Shape International Statebuilding (with Aila Matanock).
February 2024: Awarded (Co-Principal Investigator) $5.7 million grant (2024-2028) from the National Science Foundation for project on research translation and evidence use by policymakers.
October 2023: Awarded $350,000 Carnegie Corporation of New York grant for research-policy-practice partnership with Life & Peace Institute.
July 2023: Article published in American Journal of Political Science entitled Keeping or Building Peace? UN Peace Operations beyond the Security Dilemma (with Jessica Di Salvatore).
July 2023: Awarded an additional $20,000 from the National Science Foundation to support research experiences for undergraduate students.