Gilbert Khadiagala to Launch Africa Project

Beginning in the fall, Gilbert Khadiagala will launch an Africa Project for the Center. He will organize a series of meetings on topical African issues for the Washington policy community and give support to the Center's residential fellows whose projects focus on Africa. He will also work with the Center's other projects and programs on cross-regional issues, such as governance and the development of state capacity.

Khadiagala's appointment as consulting director of the Center's new project on Africa marks the fulfilment of an important objective for Center director Lee Hamilton. "The launching of an African initiative under Gilbert's leadership is a significant step toward achieving our goal of increasing the Center's coverage of African issues," said Hamilton. "Khadiagala's educational and professional background in areas of African studies makes him the perfect candidate as we step out in this exciting initiative."

Khadiagala said of the new venture: "The Woodrow Wilson Center is the ideal place to sensitize the Washington community on African issues. Africa is going through an extensive transition period. My goal in directing the Africa Project is to initiate informed dialogue on African affairs that will appeal to the policy and academic communities."

Currently, Khadiagala serves as an Associate Professor of Comparative Politics and African Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. His research interests include African politics, African security and Southern Africa. His book, Allies in Adversity: The Frontline States in African Security, focuses on the strategies of small states in systems of asymmetrical power and conflicts generated by the decolonization of Africa in the 1970s. For this work, he obtained a MacArthur Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in International Peace and Security. Currently, he is working on a book entitled Mediating Civil Wars in Eastern Africa.

In addition to publications in edited volumes, paper series, and journals, Khadiagala has been involved in research and collaborative work under the auspices of the Africa Project at the Brookings Institution (Washington, D.C.) and the Council on Foreign Relations (New York). Prior to assuming his position at Johns Hopkins University, Khadiagala was an Associate Professor of political science, with tenure, at Kent State University. He received his B.A., from the University of Nairobi, an M.A. from McMaster University in Ontario, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins SAIS.

The new project will be administered by the Center's Division of International Studies, directed by Robert Litwak.