Youssef Mahmoud

Senior Adviser | mahmoud@ipinst.org

Youssef Mahmoud is a Senior Adviser at IPI supporting the Africa, Middle East, and peace operations programs. Youssef has held numerous senior positions at the UN, both in New York and in the field, including as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) and as Executive Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Burundi (BINUB).

Prior to these assignments, he served as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guyana and Director in the UN Department of Political Affairs.

Before joining the United Nations in 1981, Youssef was Assistant Professor at the University of Tunis. He received his PhD in Linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington, DC, in 1979.


Selected publications:

• Youssef Mahmoud, “Post-Conflict Peacebuilding: Reflections on the Experience of the United Nations in Guinea-Bissau,” Negócios Estrangeiros, No. 1 (March 2001): 84-89.

• Yael Danieli and Youssef Mahmoud, introduction to Sharing the Front Line and the Back Hills: Peacekeepers, Humanitarian Aid Workers and the Media in the Midst of Crisis, edited by Dr. Yael Danieli, with a forward by the Secretary-General (New York: United Nations, 2002), pp. 1-5.

• Chandra Lekha Sriram and Youssef Mahmoud, “Bringing Security Back In: International Relations Theory and Moving Beyond the ‘Justice Versus Peace’ Dilemma in Transitional Societies,” in International Law and International Relations: Bridging Theory and Practice, edited by Thomas J. Biersteker, Peter J. Spiro, Chandra Lekha Sriram, and Veronica Raffo (New York: Routledge, 2007), pp. 222-235.

• Youssef Mahmoud, “Partnerships for Peacebuilding in Burundi: Some Lessons Learned,” in Crafting an African Security Architecture, edited by Hany Besada (London: Ashgate, 2010), pp. 129-142.