Robert Blair is the author of, "Peacekeeping, Policing, and the Rule of Law after Civil War." In it, Blair proposes a new theory to explain how the international community can help establish the rule of law in the world's weakest and most war-torn states, focusing on the crucial but often underappreciated role of the United Nations.

In April 2020, three Brown University faculty members won fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Professor of Anthropology Daniel Jordan Smith was among the 175 new fellows chosen from a field of nearly 3,000 applicants.

In new research, Adam C. Levine, Faculty Fellow and Director of the Humanitarian Innovation Initiative, joined colleagues to employ the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology to develop eveidence-based guidelines for the care of admitted Ebola patients.

Daniel Jordan Smith’s newest book on Nigeria, Every Household Its Own Government: Improvised Infrastructure, Entrepreneurial Citizens, and the State in Nigeria, was recently published by Princeton University Press. The Director of the Africa Initiative since 2016, Smith is also the Charles C. Tillinghast, Jr. ’32 Professor of International Studies and a professor of Anthropology.

Madison Paulk is a current student in the Graduate Program in Development at the Watson Institute. She is involved with the Africa Initiative as her research interests specifically include urban anthropology and public art in South Africa. She is completing her dissertation research in Durban. 

Nitsan Chorev is the Harmon Family Professor of Sociology and International & Public Affairs and is currently the director of the Graduate Program in Development. Chorev is the author of three books, the most recent of which, Give and Take: Developmental Foreign Aid and the Pharmaceutical Industry in East Africa, was published by Princeton University Press in early 2020.