Lawrence Woocher

Lawrence Woocher is a senior program officer in the Institute’s Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention [2], where he focuses on early warning, conflict prevention, and the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities. He was a member of the executive committee and lead expert on early warning for the Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. He is also a lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

Before joining the Institute in late 2006, Woocher was a research fellow at Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution and, concurrently, a consultant on early warning to the Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. From 2004 to 2006 he served as program manager of Global Policy Programs at the United Nations Association of the USA.

From 2001 to 2003 he was a research associate/special projects manager at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Woocher received a master’s in public policy with a focus on international security and political economy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, and a bachelor’s in neuroscience from Brown University.

Publications:

• Preventing Genocide: An American and Global Imperative. [3] UNA-USA E-newsletter (January 7, 2009).
• Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers [4]. Final report of the Genocide Prevention Task Force (2008). (Contributing expert).
• The Effects of Cognitive Biases on Early Warning [5]. Presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention (2008).
• "Peace Operations and the Prevention of Genocide [6]," Human Rights Review (2007).
• Early Warning for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities [7]. Presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention (2007).
• Developing a Strategy, Methods and Tools for Genocide Early Warning [8]. Prepared for the Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide (2006).
• "Peacebuilding and Prevention [9]," WFUNA Reform Forum (2006).
• Could President Bush Have Said More about Genocide? [10]UNA-USA E-newsletter (February 6, 2006).
• The United Nations and American Public Diplomacy [11]. UNA-USA E-newsletter (December 2005).
• "Deconstructing 'Political Will': Explaining the Failure to Prevent Deadly Conflict and Mass Atrocities [12]," Journal of Public and International Affairs (2001).
• The Casamance question: an examination of the legitimacy of self-determination in southern Senegal. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights (2000).

Multimedia:

• VOA's interviews Woocher on Obama's speech to General Assembly on peace in Sudan [13] (September 24, 2009).
• Australia’s ABC News Breakfast interviews Woocher on Obama’s inauguration and foreign policy challenges for the new administration [14] (January 20, 2009).
• VOA’s On the Line interviews Woocher on preventing genocide (December 2008).
• A blueprint for improving U.S. government response to threats of genocide and mass atrocities [15]. Voices on Genocide Prevention (December 11, 2008, MP3).