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    The International Peace Institute (IPI) is an independent, international not-for-profit think tank dedicated to managing risk and building resilience to promote peace, security, and sustainable development. To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, strategic analysis, publishing, and convening. With staff from more than twenty countries and a broad range of academic fields, IPI has offices facing United Nations headquarters in New York and offices in Vienna and Manama.

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Staff John L. Hirsch

John L. Hirsch, Senior Adviser

John L. Hirsch is currently a Senior Adviser to IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen after having held various positions at IPI, including Vice President and Acting Head of the Africa Program. He is...
Read more articles → Email: hirsch@ipinst.org

John L. Hirsch is currently a Senior Adviser to IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen after having held various positions at IPI, including Vice President and Acting Head of the Africa Program. He is also Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and served as Director of the Occidental College United Nations Program from 2002-2011.

Before joining IPI, Ambassador Hirsch served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Sierra Leone from 1995-1998. His extensive African experience includes assignments in Somalia from 1984-1986, and subsequent roles as Political Adviser to the Commander of UNITAF, General Robert Johnston, and as Deputy to President Bush’s Special Envoy, Ambassador Robert Oakley from 1992-1993.

Ambassador Hirsch served as Consul General in Johannesburg, South Africa from 1990-1993, the years of transition from apartheid to non-racial multiparty democracy. His earlier assignments in Israel at the start of the Middle East peace process in the mid-seventies and, subsequently, at the US Mission to the United Nations and in Pakistan have dealt with major issues of multilateral diplomacy and United Nations peacekeeping.

Ambassador Hirsch was a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in 1993 and 1994 and Diplomat-in-Residence at Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, from 1994-1995. He was Director of the International Fellows Program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs for the 2000-01 academic year.

Ambassador Hirsch received his BA in American studies from Columbia University in 1957 and his PhD in European history from the University of Wisconsin in 1965. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Turin, Italy, in 1962 and 1963, where he wrote a dissertation on the Italian Resistance Movement and its impact on postwar Italian political developments.

His publications include Sierra Leone: Diamonds and the Struggle for Democracy (Lynne Rienner, 2001) and Somalia and Operation Restore Hope: Reflections on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping, co-authored with Ambassador Robert B. Oakley (US Institute of Peace, March 1995). His chapter “Peace and Justice: Mozambique and Sierra Leone Compared” appeared in Peace versus Justice? The Dilemmas of Transitional Justice in Africa, edited by Chandra Lekha Sriram and Suren Pillay (Durban: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2009).

 Global Observatory:

  • “Contrasting Trends: Europe Between Democracy and Radicalism,” February 6, 2015.
  • “The Search for Federal Solutions,” August 20, 2014.
  • “Can the ICC and Africa Mend a Rocky Relationship?,” May 14, 2014.
  • “Sierra Leone Reaps Benefits of Kabbah’s Persistent Quest for Peace,” April 29, 2014.
  • “How Mandela’s Relentless Diplomacy Transformed South Africa,” December 9, 2013.
  • “Twenty Years After Black Hawk Down, What Lessons Have Been Learned?” October 3, 2013.
  • “Challenges Ahead After Mali’s Elections,” August 8, 2013.
  • “Somalia: From Transition to Transformation,” August 9, 2012.
  • “London Conference on Somalia: New Roadmap, Old Concerns,” February 29, 2012.
  • “With New Efforts, International Community Tries Again With Somalia,” February 14, 2012.
  • “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Visit to Mogadishu,” December 12, 2011.
  • “The Fate of Dictators,” November 1, 2011.

Recent articles from
the Global Observatory

  • The Roots of Pre-Election Carnage by Ugandan Security Forces

    January 15, 2021 by Sylvie Namwase
    It is time for Uganda to enact laws in keeping with international standards and redefine the relationship between police and military during law enforcement.
    Analysis, africa, elections
  • 2020 Editor’s Choice: Global Observatory Must Reads

    December 23, 2020 by the Global Observatory
    The editors have assembled some of 2020’s “must read” articles that were not about the pandemic, noteworthy either for their analysis, topic, timeliness, and/or popularity.
    Further Reading
  • Rising Numbers Flee Ethiopia as Internal Conflict Persists

    December 21, 2020 by Ilhan Dahir
    The conflict in Ethiopia has already claimed many lives and led to a major new displacement flow in the East Africa region.
    Analysis, africa, refugees
  • Safeguarding Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

    December 10, 2020 by Joshua Wimpey, Markus Goldstein, Paula Gonzalez Martinez, Sreelakshmi Papineni
    COVID-19 has put all progress towards women’s empowerment made so far at risk.
    Analysis, coronavirus, women peace and security
  • Renewed Scrutiny of Citizenship Laws in the Gulf in COVID-19 Era

    December 8, 2020 by Dalya Al Alawi
    While the pandemic continues its march through the region, movements to change discriminatory citizenship laws have gained strength.
    Analysis, coronavirus, middle east
  • With Multilateral Efforts Bypassed in Nagorno-Karabakh, OSCE Struggles to Find Role

    December 3, 2020 by Stephanie Liechtenstein

    The ceasefire deal confirmed geopolitical realities and further strengthened Russian influence in the…

    Analysis, asia, frozen conflicts
  • Empowering “We the Peoples” in the UN’s 75th Year

    December 2, 2020 by Michaela Millender, Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu
    The UN75 report produced ten key findings that highlighted what respondents felt were both immediate and long-term priorities.
    Analysis, united nations
  • Advancing Climate-Sensitive Strategies in UN Field Operations

    November 24, 2020 by Pushkar M. Sharma
    The devastating effects of the climate crisis underscore why UN peace operations and special political missions must advance climate-sensitive strategies.
    Analysis, climate change, climate2020
  • How Can Artificial Intelligence Help Curb Deforestation in the Amazon?

    November 23, 2020 by Adriana Erthal Abdenur
    Some of the most promising innovations for enhancing the monitoring of forests involve artificial intelligence.
    Analysis, climate change, climate2020
  • Youth and Climate Action: An Interview with Nisreen Elsaim

    November 20, 2020 by Ahmed Gad, Jimena Leiva Roesch
    Nisreen Elsaim, a Sudanese climate activist and Chair of the Sudan Youth Organization on Climate Change, is a member of the secretary-general's youth advisory group on climate change.
    Interviews, climate change, climate2020

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About the International Peace Institute

The International Peace Institute is an independent, international not-for-profit think tank with a staff representing more than 20 nationalities, located in New York across from United Nations headquarters. IPI is dedicated to promoting the prevention and resolution of conflicts between and within states by strengthening international peace and security institutions. To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, convening, publishing and outreach.

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