PrintSheldon Himelfarb
Associate Vice President, Center of Innovation for Science, Technology, & Peacebuilding / Media, Conflict, & Peacebuilding
Sheldon Himelfarb joined USIP from The Corporate Executive Board, where he was on the Technology Practice Leadership Team, working with Chief Information Officers from governments, universities, and multi-national corporations. Prior to this, he served as foreign policy adviser to a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the head of North American Documentary Development for Yorkshire TV, and the CEO/Executive Producer for Common Ground Productions, the media division of Search for Common Ground. He is an award-winning filmmaker, former commentator for National Public Radio (Sunday Morning Edition) and author of numerous articles on politics, popular culture and conflict. He has managed peacebuilding programs in numerous conflicts, including Bosnia, Iraq, Angola, Liberia, Macedonia, Burundi and received the Capitol Area Peace Maker award from American University.
He holds a Ph.D. from Oxford University and a B.A. in political science from Johns Hopkins University. He has held visiting or guest scholar positions at the Brookings Institution, Harvard University and the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Partial List of Productions:
- Nashe Maalo drama series (Common Ground Productions and Sesame Workshop for Macedonian TV, 2000)
- Africa: Search for Common Ground (series for Common Ground Publications, 1998)
- From Fury to Forgiveness (Discovery Channel, 1994)
- Follow the Flag (A&E networks, 1993)
- A Heart Beat Away (A&E networks, 1991)
- Four Hours in My Lai (PBS, 1989)
Resources & Tools
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Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the Afghan media sector has experienced dramatic growth in all areas: television, radio, print, internet, mobile phones. As such, the sector holds tremendous potential for making significant contributions to peacebuilding in the country. |
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Countries: Iran
| Issue Areas: International and Regional Organizations, Political Systems and International Relations
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It would be tempting to pronounce American public diplomacy dead in the 21st century. Where government once served as a powerful middleman for information and access, shaping prevailing messages about the United States, now the Internet connects two billion people directly. The result is a brave new world for multilateral international communication, with unprecedented power to connect and divide, spread truth and rumor, and organize dispersed individuals for good, evil, and everything in between. |
Events
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July 8, 2010
From Iran to Kenya to Colombia, the impact of new and social media on movements for political and social change has been the subject of much discussion, and controversy. USIP's Center of Innovation for Science, Technology and Peacebuilding and George Washington University's Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication hosted an event exploring the role of new media in contested politics around the world. Issue Areas: Communications and Media, Science and Technology
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June 24, 2010
Mobile phone technologies are the subject of considerable enthusiasm in the peacebuilding sector. Yet little has been done to evaluate systematically the factors of success or failure in the use of mobile phones for peacebuilding. This event focused on the use of mobile phones in one of the most difficult conflict environments today: Afghanistan.
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May 12, 2010
Held at the magnificent Newseum in Washington, D.C., this summit considered specific recommendations on ways to harness the power of media for conflict prevention. Senior media makers, policymaker and powerful change agents who are key to the development of new ideas with the potential to reduce future conflict, convened at this summit.
Issue Areas: Capacity Building, Civil Society, Communications and Media, Conflict Analysis, Conflict Management and Resolution, Early Warning & Conflict Prevention, Education, Identity, Ethnicity, and Culture, International and Regional Organizations, Mediation and Facilitation, Negotiation and Diplomacy, Nongovernmental Organizations, Peacebuilding, Political Systems and International Relations, Post-Conflict Activities, Science and Technology, Youth
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February 5, 2010
USC's Center on Public Diplomacy and USIP's Center of Innovation for Science Technology and Peacebuilding held a conference to explore the merits and challenges of science diplomacy, not solely as conducted by the United States, but by nations across the world. Issue Areas: Negotiation and Diplomacy, Science and Technology
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February 1, 2010
USIP invited an expert panel to participate in a frank discussion of the conflict between the Iranian regime and the opposition and its implications for the Obama administration. Countries: Iran
| Issue Areas: Civil Society, Conflict Management and Resolution, Governance, Human Rights, International and Regional Organizations, Negotiation and Diplomacy, Nongovernmental Organizations, Political Systems and International Relations, Religion, Science and Technology, Use of Force, Women, Youth
| Programs: Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship Program
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October 1, 2009
While public diplomacy experts struggle to develop strategic communications campaigns to win hearts and minds abroad, new research on the frontiers of neuroscience and psychology suggests a different approach. Issue Areas: Civil Society, Communications and Media, Conflict Analysis, Conflict Management and Resolution, Early Warning & Conflict Prevention, Education, Governance, Human Rights, Identity, Ethnicity, and Culture, International and Regional Organizations, Mediation and Facilitation, Negotiation and Diplomacy, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, Post-Conflict Activities, Science and Technology
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July 16, 2009
USIP's Center of Innovation for Science, Technology and Peacebuilding hosted a full-day multimedia showcase of state-of-the-art simulation and "serious gaming" tools that promise to transform the way that peacebuilding organizations train, plan and collaborate. The "Smart Tools for Smart Power" event featured presentations from such innovators as IBM, the Army War College, EBay, Lockheed Martin, Second Life, and USIP's own Education and Training Center. U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer Beth Noveck presented the keynote address. |
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June 17, 2009
This panel discussion presented findings from an unprecedented comprehensive mapping of the Arabic-language blogosphere, and explored its implications for political change and conflict in the Middle East. Issue Areas: Communications and Media, Science and Technology
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March 12, 2009
USIP/National Academies (NA) Roundtable Planning Session on “Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding”
The Center of Innovation for Science, Technology, and Peacebuilding partnered with National Academies of Science and of Engineering to launch a major, multi-year roundtable on science, technology, and peacebuilding. An initial planning meeting co-organized by the National Academies and USIP was held on March 12 to clarify the scope of the proposed roundtable’s activities. Issue Areas: Science and Technology
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February 3, 2009
Distinguished panelists and citizen journalists around the world to discuss the role of media in public diplomacy. |
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July 8, 1999
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