Wilson Center Experts

Dr. Cynthia J. Arnson is director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Her most recent work has focused on questions of democratic governance, conflict resolution, international relations, and U.S. policy in the Western hemisphere. She is editor of In the Wake of War: Peace and Democratization in Latin America (Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Stanford University Press, forthcoming, 2011); Comparative Peace Processes in Latin America (Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Stanford University Press, 1999); co-editor (with I. William Zartman) of Rethinking the Economics of War: The Intersection of Need, Creed, and Greed (Woodrow Wilson Center Press and The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), and author of Crossroads: Congress, the President, and Central America, 1976-1993 (2d ed., Penn State Press, 1993), among other works. Since joining the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin American Program in 1994, she has written or edited dozens of Center publications on South America, Central America, the Andean region, energy policy, conflict resolution, human rights, the international relations of Latin America, and U.S. policy toward Latin America. She writes and lectures frequently on Latin American politics and U.S. policy toward the region, and is author of several book chapters on Colombia and U.S.-Colombian relations. Arnson is a member of the editorial advisory board of Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, the Spanish-language edition of the distinguished journal Foreign Affairs. Arnson is also a member of the advisory board of Human Rights Watch/Americas. She served as Associate Director of the Americas division from 1990-1994. Arnson served as an assistant professor of international relations at American University's School of International Service 1989-1991. As a foreign policy aide in the House of Representatives during the Carter and Reagan administrations, she participated in the national debates over U.S. policy and human rights in South and Central America. Arnson graduated magna cum laude from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and has an M.A. and Ph.D. in international relations from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
 

Education

Ph.D., International Relations, and M.A., Latin American Studies, The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; B.A., Government, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
 

Subjects

Colombia,Conflict Resolution,Democratic Governance,Human Rights,Latin America,U.S. Foreign Policy
 

Honors

American Fellow, American Association of University of Women Educational Foundation
 

Experience

Frequent writer and lecturer on Colombia and U.S. policy in Latin America; professor, American University; legislative assistant, U.S. House of Representatives; Associate Director, Human Rights Watch/Americas
 

Expertise

Latin America, with particular emphasis on Colombia; democratic governance and the "New Left" in Latin America; human rights; conflict resolution; U.S. policy toward Latin America