Nicole Cochran is a program officer for the Burma team at USIP. She previously served as a senior program specialist for USIP’s Southeast Asia team, where her work focused on preventive diplomacy in the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Before joining USIP’s Asia Center in 2021, she worked with USIP’s governance, justice and security team researching elite manipulation of security sectors and provided research support to the Justice and Security Dialogue project. She is a former Thomas Jefferson fellow at the National Center for State Courts and performed research on land law and land rights in Cambodia.

Cochran holds a master’s degree in comparative law from McGill University, where she studied indigenous constitutionalism, as well as a law degree and master’s in public policy from William & Mary Law School.

Publications By Nicole

Never Again? The Legacy of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Trials

Never Again? The Legacy of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Trials

Monday, October 3, 2022

By: Nicole Cochran;  Andrew Wells-Dang, Ph.D.

Between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled over Cambodia committed untold atrocities, with an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people dying of starvation, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. In mid-September, over 40 years after its reign of terror, the only formal accountability mechanism to prosecute the Khmer Rouge —the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) — issued the final decision of its judicial mandate. While the court's legacy is complex, it served an important platform for accountability and reparations for victims. As it moves to a new phase of residual functions over the next three years, the international community should prioritize supporting its work, which is vital to boosting peace and stability and protecting the rights of Cambodians.

Type: Analysis

Justice, Security & Rule of Law

What Is Indigenous Foreign Policy? Lessons from Australia and New Zealand

What Is Indigenous Foreign Policy? Lessons from Australia and New Zealand

Thursday, May 26, 2022

By: Nicole Cochran;  Brian Harding

In early May, the Solomon Islands — the second largest recipient of Australian aid — signed a security agreement with China, raising concerns about the potential for the creation of a Chinese military base a short distance from Australia’s shores. Coming mere weeks before Australian elections, this announcement was widely seen by Australians as a failure of their foreign policy and helped turn national security into a high priority for the elections.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyMediation, Negotiation & Dialogue

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