Alison Giffen is a Senior Associate and Co-director of Stimson’s Future of Peace Operations program and leads Stimson’s Civilians in Conflict project. Giffen is an expert on peace operations and the prevention of violence against civilians, including in its most extreme manifestation: mass atrocities. She has more than 15 years of policy, advocacy, and research experience. Giffen joined Stimson in 2009 after working in Sudan to design, implement, and coordinate an international NGO’s global strategy to secure civilian rights to protection. As a policy analyst for the Open Society Institute, Giffen promoted multilateral US foreign engagement and US support of UN reform initiatives. She was Project Director of a groundbreaking study on ex-combatants in Sierra Leone, and was the founding director of the US Office on Colombia, an international coalition of groups monitoring military assistance to and promoting peace and human rights in Colombia.
Giffen received her MA in international affairs from the School for International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and received her BA in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental College.
Selected Publications
“‘Will They Protect Us for the Next 10 Years?’ Challenges Faced by the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan,” Stimson Center and Sudd Institute, 2014.
“UN Facing Unprecedented Challenge in South Sudan,” CNN Opinion, 2014.
“Kerry Should Use First African Visit to Shore Up Support for Peacekeeping Missions,” Stimson Center, 2014.
“How the UN Should Handle South Sudan,” CNN World, 2013.
“Community Perceptions as a Priority in Protection and Peacekeeping,” Stimson Center, 2013.
“UN Integration and Humanitarian Space: An Independent Study Commissioned by the UN Integration Steering Group,” ODI/HPG and Stimson Center, 2011.
“Addressing the Doctrinal Deficit: Developing Guidance to Prevent and Respond to Widespread or Systematic Attacks on Civilians,” Stimson Center, 2010.
“Enhancing the Protection of Civilians in Peace Operations: From Policy to Practice (A Background Paper Prepared for the Australian Government’s Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence),” Stimson Center, 2011.
“Challenges of Strengthening the Protection of Civilians in Multidimensional Peace Operations,” International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations, 2010.
