Peacebuilding: A Personal Journey

David L. Phillips is Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Phillips served as Foreign Affairs Expert and as Senior Adviser to the U.S. Department of State and as Senior Adviser to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He has worked at academic institutions as Executive Director of Columbia’s International Conflict Resolution Program, Director of American University’s Program on Conflict Prevention and Peace-building, a Fellow at Harvard University’s Future of Diplomacy Project, Visiting Scholar at Harvard’s Center for Middle East Studies, and Professor at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. He worked at think-tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Atlantic Council, and the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo. Phillips has also been a foundation executive, serving as President of the Congressional Human Rights Foundation and Executive Director of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. Phillips was an analyst and commentator for NBC News, CNBC, and the British Broadcasting Company. He has authored many books, policy reports and opinion pieces.