Richard Gowan

Richard Gowan

UN Director
New York

Crisis Group Role

Richard oversees Crisis Group’s advocacy work at the United Nations, liaising with diplomats and UN officials in New York.

Professional Background

Richard was previously a Consulting Analyst with ICG in 2016 and 2017. He has worked with the European Council on Foreign Relations, New York University Center on International Cooperation and the Foreign Policy Centre (London). He has taught at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and Stanford in New York. He has also worked as a consultant for the organisations including UN Department of Political Affairs, the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on International Migration, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Rasmussen Global, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Global Affairs Canada. From 2013 to 2019, he wrote a weekly column (“Diplomatic Fallout”) for World Politics Review.

Areas of Expertise

  • The United Nations system
  • Security Council
  • Peacekeeping
  • European security
  • Early warning and conflict prevention

In The News

17 Eyl 2023
The situation of the UN now is bleak and I think it is markedly bleaker than at the 2022 [UNGA] high-level week. The Guardian

Richard Gowan

UN Director
15 Eyl 2023
This is a year when the countries of the Global South have set the agenda. Reuters

Richard Gowan

UN Director
22 May 2023
Economic problems are fueling political discontent and democratic backsliding in countries ranging from Pakistan to Tunisia. Time

Richard Gowan

UN Director
30 Ara 2022
Ireland showed it was ready to get its hands dirty dealing with the details of a specific crisis on the Council’s agenda. RTE

Richard Gowan

UN Director
8 Kas 2022
If U.S. democracy looks like it is back on life support, I think you'll see even good friends of the U.S. start to edge away from Washington on democracy issues. Reuters

Richard Gowan

UN Director
18 Eki 2022
For many states, the U.N. offers a place to defend their territorial claims even when they cannot control the actual territories at stake. Washington Post

Richard Gowan

UN Director

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