Dr. Youssef Mahmoud is Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute supporting the sustainable development and peace operations programs and serving as a focal point on mediation and prevention policies and practices. He is a former UN Under-Secretary-General and has headed peace operations in Burundi, the Central African Republic and Chad.

Prior to these assignments, he held other senior United Nations positions, notably as UN Resident Coordinator in Guyana, Director in the UN Department of Political Affairs, and Head of the Office of the Undersecretary-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

In 2015, he served as a member of the UN Secretary-General High-Level Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) and simultaneously a member of the High-Level Advisory Group for the Global Study on Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

In 2019, he led an independent strategic review of the UN peace operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 2463.

He periodically writes on the theory and practice of the evolving concept of sustaining peace and on political transitions in Africa, with a particular focus on Tunisia.

He is currently a Visiting Professor at the African Leadership Centre, King’s College London, and serves on the Boards of several non-profit organizations in the US and Tunisia.

Dr. Mahmoud has a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Selected Publications

• “How to Be a Good Ancestor in Support of the UN Declaration on Future Generations” Global Observatory 2024
• “People, the Planet, and the Pact for the Future: Interview with Youssef Mahmoud” Global Observatory 2024
• “Solidarity as an act of rebellion and a pathway to ecological peace,” Global Solidarity Report, 2024
• “Unleashing the Transformative Potential of the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference on the Summit of the Future” Stimson Center 2024 (with Sahana Chatopadhyay)
• “Le Nouvel Agenda pour la paix: enjeux et défis du maintien de la paix de l’Afrique,” l’Observatoire Boutros-Ghali, 2023
• “A Pact Fit for the UN’s Future?” Global Observatory 2023
• “A New Agenda for Peace: Making Peace Plural and Healing Historical Traumas” Global Observatory 2023
• “How Can the UN Sustaining Peace Agenda Live Up to Its Potential?” In: de Coning, C., Saraiva, R., Muto, A. (eds) Adaptive Peacebuilding: Twenty-first Century Perspectives on War, Peace, and Human Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham., 2023
• “Financing for Peacebuilding: Beyond Money” Global Observatory 2022
• “Peace as the Norm: Sustaining Peace in Africa” Global Observatory 2022 (with Chimwemwe A. Fabiano)
• “Sustaining Peace in Africa,” The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainable Peace and Security in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2022. (with Chimwemwe A. Fabiano)
• “What Does Collective Leadership Have To Do With COVID-19 and Peace?” Global Observatory 2021
• Whose Peace Are We Building?: Leadership for Peace in Africa, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021 (with Mbiatem Albert)
• “What Kind of Leadership Does the Vision of “Silencing the Guns” Require?” Conflict Trends, ACCORD, 2020, pp. 19-27
• “Whatever Future Holds for Peace Operations, Peacebuilding Must Be More Local and Plural,” Global Observatory 2020
• “Improvising Peace: Towards New Social Contracts in Tunisia” (Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 2020) (with Andrea Ó Súilleabháin)
• “De la paix négative à la paix positive, les Nations unies face à un défi existentiel,” ACTES, Fondation Gabriel Péri, Paris 2019, pp. 97-102
• “What Kind of Leadership Does Sustaining Peace Require?” Global Observatory 2019
• “Fostering People-Centric Approach to Peace and Security in the Atlantic Space,” in Atlantic Currents (Rabat, Morocco: OCP Policy Center, 2018)
• “Without Prioritization of Peace and Women’s Leadership, WPS in Peril,” Global Observatory 2018
• “People-Centred Approaches to Peace: At Cross Roads Between Geopolitics, Norms, and Practice,” in United Nations Peace Operations in a Changing Global Order, Cedric de Coning and Mateja Peter, eds. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
• “Can FemWise-Africa Make Mediation Work for Sustaining Peace?” Global Observatory 2018
• “Can Peacebuilding Work for Sustaining Peace?,” Global Observatory 2018 (with Anupah Makoond)
• “Sustaining Peace in Practice: Building on What Works” (New York: International Peace Institute, 2018) (with Lesley Connolly and Delphine Mechoulan)
• “Human Rights and Sustaining Peace” (New York: International Peace Institute, 2017) (with Aïssata Athie)
• “In Tunisia’s March Toward Women’s Rights, Finish Line Is in Sight,” Global Observatory 2017
• “Tunisia’s New Protections for Women: A Legislative Revolution and Missed Opportunity,” Global Observatory 2017
• “Investing in Peace to Prevent Violent Extremism in the Sahel-Sahara Region” in Issue 2: Peacebuilding Approaches to Preventing and Transforming Violent Extremism (Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Volume 12, 2017) (with Arthur Boutellis)
• “‘Distress Migration:’ Moving Beyond Vulnerability-Based Paradigms,” Global Observatory 2017 (with Ameya Naik)
• “Entrepreneurship for Sustaining Peace” (New York: International Peace Institute, 2017) (with Anupah Makoond and Ameya Naik)
• “UN Regional Political Offices and Prevention for Sustaining Peace” (New York: International Peace Institute, 2017) (with Delphine Mechoulan)
• “Sustaining Peace: What Does It Mean in Practice?” (New York: International Peace Institute, 2017) (with Anupah Makoond) (French version)
• “Peace Operations and Prevention for Sustaining Peace: The Restoration and Extension of State Authority” (New York: International Peace Institute, 2017) (with Delphine Mechoulan)
• “What Would It Take to Make a ‘Surge in Diplomacy for Peace’ Work?,” Global Observatory 2017
• “Will 2017 Be a Watershed Year For Prevention at the Service of Peace?,” Global Observatory 2017
• “The SDGs and Prevention for Sustaining Peace: Exploring the Transformative Potential of the Goal on Gender Equality” (New York: International Peace Institute, 2016) (with Jimena Leiva Roesch, Delphine Mechoulan, and Andrea Ó Súilleabháin)
• “Toward a New “Agenda for Peace,” Global Observatory 2016
• “With New Resolutions, Sustaining Peace Sits at Heart of UN Architecture,” Global Observatory 2016 (with Andrea Ó Súilleabháin)
• “Freeing Prevention From Conflict: Investing in Sustaining Peace,” Global Observatory 2016
• “A Ripe Moment for Change at the UN?,” Global Observatory 2016
• “In Fight Against Violent Extremism, Why Is Prevention Elusive?,” Global Observatory 2016
• “Nobel Prize for Tunisia: Jubilation and Reality Check,” Global Observatory 2015
• “In Burkina Faso and Beyond, Africa’s Citizens Seek to be Heard,” Global Observatory 2015
• “In Tunisia, Seeds of Terror Attacks Come from Within,” Global Observatory 2015
• “Terror Strikes Again, but Tunisia Is Still Standing,” Global Observatory 2015
• Youssef Mahmoud, “L’entreprenariat, le développement économique et la stabilité,” Le Matin Geopolis, Octobre 2014
• Youssef Mahmoud, “Lutte contre l’Etat islamique: Ses promesses et ses écueils,” Le Matin Geopolis, 19 Septembre 2014
• “Building a Sustainable Future Requires Leadership from State and Citizen,” Global Observatory 2014 (with Jimena Leiva-Roesch and Steve Nation)
• Youssef Mahmoud, “Le Maroc: Une diplomatie tous azimuts,” Le Matin Geopolis, 20 June 2014
• “Pervasive Disconnect Between the State and Citizens Offers Two Paths: Promise or Peril,” Global Observatory 2014
• “The Tunisian Constitution: Triumphs and Potential Pitfalls,” Global Observatory 2014 (with Margaret Willams)
• “The Crisis in the Central African Republic: Will a Woman at the Helm Enough,” Global Observatory 2014 (with Mireille Affa-Mindze)
• “In Egypt’s New Constitution: Are Women Equal Citizens,” Global Observatory 2013
• “Tunisia after the Uprising: Conversations and Observations,” IPI Comment & Analysis 2011
• 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
• 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