Patricia L. Taft is a Senior Associate in the Peace and
Stability Operations and Foreign Policy programs at the
Fund for Peace. Since joining the Fund in 2003, she has co-led
field missions to more than thirty countries in Africa, the
Americas, Asia, and Europe conducting research on the political
will and military capacities of regional organizations to respond
to humanitarian emergencies. Currently, Ms. Taft directs the
Threat Convergence project and is an analyst for the Fund's
annual Failed States Index, published in partnership with
Foreign Policy Magazine. She also leads several projects aimed
at developing metrics to measure stabilization and reconstruction
efforts in weak and failing states. Prior to joining the Fund,
she worked for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on
projects examining the role of stability police in peacekeeping
operations, the rule of law and transitional justice in
post-conflict societies, and the rise of the Al Qaeda network.
She was also a Senior Associate with the Public International
Law and Policy Group (PILPG) where she was the lead US-based
coordinator of a legal team to the Somalia peace talks.
Ms. Taft has advised clients in the Balkans, the Caucasus, Asia
and Africa on security sector reform and transitional justice.
She earned her BA in History with distinction from Temple University
and was a Dean's Fellow at American University where she earned
an MA in International Relations. She has also lived and worked
as a consultant in Central and Southeastern Europe. She has
published editorials and journal articles on the topics of
international law, humanitarian intervention, regional cooperation
and civil society empowerment. Ms. Taft currently co-teaches
a course on diagnosing state failure at American University's School
of International Service and serves on the Special Advisory Council
for PILPG, which was nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize
for its worldwide pro bono legal work.
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