Donald Steinberg

Deputy President (Policy)
Brussels, Belgium

Crisis Group role:

Donald Steinberg serves as Deputy President (Policy) and is located in the Brussels office.   

Areas of expertise:

• U.S. National Security Policy 
• Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, and Conflict Resolution 
• International organisations
• Gender and Armed Conflict

Professional background:

• Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace
• U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Angola
• Director of the State Department’s Joint Policy Council,
• Special Representative of Presidents Bush and Clinton for Humanitarian Demining
• Principal Deputy Director of the State Department Policy Planning Staff
• Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration
• Senior Director for African Affairs, U.S. National Security Council
• Deputy White House Press Secretary
• Council Member of the Initiative for Inclusive Security (Women Waging Peace)
• Advisory Council to Executive Director of the UNIFEM
• Commissioner with the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Education:

• Master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, New York City
• Master’s degree in political economy from University of Toronto
• Bachelor's degree in economics from Reed College, Portland, Oregon

Publications and media:

Written extensively on issues relating to Africa, women in conflict, transitional justice, post-conflict reconstruction, landmines, and refugees and internally displaced persons, including

• "Responsibility to Protect: Coming of Age?", Brill Journal, 18 November 2009 
• "UN to Consider New Structure for Women: Making Change Matter", Global Post, 7 September 2009
• "Zimbabwe’s Slow-Burning Crisis Could Affect Africa", YaleGlobal, 30 June 2009
• "Want to sideline Mugabe? Support Zimbabwe now", in Reuters: The Great Debate, 22 June 2009
• "UN Resolution on Women, Peace and Security: Anniversary Worth Celebrating?", Reuters: The Great Debate, 19 June 2009
• "Stopping Mass Atrocities: Responsibility to Protect in Action", Schlossplatz Review, June 2009
• "Sri Lanka's Death Zone", Reuters: The Great Debate, 23 April 2009
• "Peace Missions and Gender Equality: Ten Lessons from the Ground", OSCE roundtable, 11 March 2009
• "Peace and Justice in the Real World", 23 February 2009
• "First Lehman Brothers, Next Liberia?", The Globalist, 26 January 2009
• "Zimbabwe: Appoint Neutral Interim Government", allAfrica, 13 January 2009
• "Obama Administration Needs to Take a Stand on Cluster Bombs", The Huffington Post, 12 December 2008
• "A Clear Vision for US and Africa", The Boston Globe, 12 December 2008
• "Haiti: Affirmative Engagement or Malign Neglect?", Haitian Times, 10 October 2008
• "Zimbabwe: Making the Most of the Deal", with Sydney Masamvu, allAfrica, 2 October 2008
• "Sierra Leone's Convalescence", International Herald Tribune, 8 August 2008
• "Making Peace Matter: Toward a Concept of Inclusive Security", in G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit 2008, 7 July 2008
• "Make Forced Marriage a Crime against Humanity", The Christian Science Monitor, 9 June 2008
• "Which Macedonia?", The Guardian, 1 April 2008
• "Bush in Africa: A Continent Adrift", YaleGlobal Online, 18 February 2008
• "Sierra Leone: Elections Bring Hope for a Former Failed State", allAfrica.com, 6 August 2007
• "Failing to Empower Women Peacebuilders: A Cautionary Tale from Angola", PeaceWomen E-News, 25 April 2007
• "US Should Ban Bomblets and Get on the Right Side of History", The Christian Science Monitor, 30 July 2007
• "Blood Aluminium?", allAfrica.com, 3 April 2007
• "Future of the World Court in Balance", with Nick Grono, YaleGlobal Online, 7 March 2007
• "When War and Children Collide", The Christian Science Monitor, 27 November 2006
• "Beyond Victimhood: Women’s Peacebuilding in Conflict Situations", Monday Developments, 11 September 2006
• "The World's Lost People: Neither Refugees nor Citizens", The Christian Science Monitor, 27 January 2006

Speeches:

"Children and Armed Conflict: Protecting the Most Vulnerable", UNICEF Program on Rehabilitation and Reintegration of War-Affected Children, Brussels, 22 October 2009
"Beyond Victimhood: Protection and Participation of Women in the Pursuit of Peace" , Testimony to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 1 October 2009
"Zimbabwe: the Case for Engagement", Testimony to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 30 September 2009
"The Very Model of a Modern SRSG: The New World of UN Peacekeeping Missions", UN Senior Mission Leaders Program, 17 July 2009
"Combating Sexual Violence in Conflict: Using Facts from the Ground", United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict in Geneva, 17 December 2008
"Protection and Participation: Women and Armed Conflict", Presentation to the Salzburg Global Seminar, September 10, 2008
"Making Peace Matter: Toward a Concept of Inclusive Security", at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit 2008, 7 July 2008
"Beyond Victimhood: Engaging Women in the Pursuit of Peace", Testimony to the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2008
• "Responsibility to Protect in the Real World: From Rwanda to Darfur to Kenya", Cardozo Law School, Yeshiva University, New York, 10 March 2008
• "A Seat at the Table: The Role of Displaced Persons in Peace Talks and Peacebulding", Presentation to the US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C., 14 December 2007
• "Beyond Victimhood: Involving Women in Peace Operations", Presentation to UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations Townhall Meeting, 6 December 2007

Awards:

• U.S. Presidential Meritorious Service Award
• U.S. State Department Distinguished Service Award
• Robert Frasure Award for Global Peacemaking
• U.S. State Department Hunt Award for Promoting Women’s Advancement
• Joseph Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship
  

Languages:

• English (native)
• French (good)
• Portuguese (good)

Click here for a high-resolution photo of Donald Steinberg.