Séverine Autesserre

Séverine Autesserre (born 6 December 1976) is a French-American author and researcher. She writes about war and peace, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her research has influenced policy interventions as well as scholarly debates on peacebuilding and on Congo. She is a Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University (New York, US), where she specializes in international relations and African studies.

Autesserre holds a post-doctorate from Yale University (2007), a Ph.D. in political science from New York University (2006), master's degrees in international relations and political science from Columbia University (2000) and Sciences Po (France, 1999), respectively, and a B.A in political science from Sorbonne University (France, 1997).

Autesserre's early research focused on local violence and international intervention in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It culminated in her book, The Trouble with the Congo: Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding, released by Cambridge University Press in 2010. This book explains why international efforts to end civil wars often fail. Drawing from interviews and field research, it presents a case study of the international intervention during the Democratic Republic of Congo's unsuccessful transition from war to peace and democracy (2003–06). It argues that local rivalries over land, resources, and political power motivated widespread violence. However, an international peacebuilding culture shaped the intervention strategy in a way that precluded action on local conflicts, ultimately dooming the international effort.

Research for this project also appeared in Foreign Affairs, International Organization the Review of African Political Economy, the African Studies Review, the African Security Review, International Peacekeeping, the Revista de Relaciones Internationales,and the Journal of Humanitarian Assistance.

Autessere's second book, Peaceland: Conflict Resolution and the Everyday Politics of International Intervention, was released by Cambridge University Press in 2014 and focuses on the everyday elements that influence peacebuilding interventions on the ground. It included fieldwork in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and comparative research in Burundi, Cyprus, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, South Sudan, and Timor-Leste.The book suggests a new explanation for why international peace interventions so often fail to reach their full potential. It demonstrates that everyday elements – such as the expatriates’ social habits and common approaches to understanding their areas of operation – strongly influence peacebuilding effectiveness. Through this analysis of the interveners’ everyday life and work, Peaceland proposes innovative ways to better help host populations build a sustainable peace.

Findings from this project have also appeared in Critique Internationaleand African Affairs.

Autesserre is currently finalizing a third book, entitled The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider's Guide to Changing the World, which will be released in early 2021 (hardcover and ebook by Oxford University Press, Audiobook by Audible) Findings from this project have appeared in International Peacekeeping, the International Studies Review, the Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs.

Autesserre has published columns, essays, and op-eds in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, African Arguments, and The International Herald Tribune. In 2014 she gave a TED talk that has since been translated into 19 languages.

Autesserre has taught at New York University, Yale University and currently teaches at Columbia University's Barnard College, School of International and Public Affairs, and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

According to Google Scholar, Autesserre's work has been cited in more than 3,000 scholarly texts, including more than 1,000 works citing The Trouble With the Congo and more than 700 works citing Peaceland.

Her two books positioned Autesserre as "an authoritative voice" on international humanitarian interventions. Her publications on peacebuilding have helped shape intervention strategies for several United Nations departments, foreign affairs ministries, philanthropists,activists, and non-governmental organizations. She has testified before the U.S. Congress, and her research was quoted in debates at the U.S. House of Representatives and the Canadian Congress. Her publications have helped put local conflict resolution on the agenda of policy-makers and practitioners working in Congo.

She has been invited to present her research in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Autesserre's first paper won the 2006 Best Graduate Student Paper award from the African Studies Association, and her article "Dangerous Tales" won the 2012 Best Article award from the African Politics Conference Group. The same year, her book The Trouble with the Congo won the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order (at the time, she was the youngest recipient of the Grawemeyer Award). The book also won the 2011 Chadwick Alger Prize presented by the International Studies Association to the best book on international organizations and multilateralism.

Autesserre's work Peaceland won the 2016 Best Book of the Year Award and the 2015 Yale H. Ferguson Award from the International Studies Association, as well as honorable mentions for three other book prizes: the 2014 African Argument Book of the Year,the 2015 Chadwick Alger Prize from the International Studies Association, and the 2015 Conflict Research Society Book of the Year.

Her research has won her a Special Prize of the Jury from the French Red Cross Fund (2017), an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship (2016), a 2016 Foreign Policy Interrupted fellowship, two research awards from the United States Institute of Peace (2004–05 and 2010–12), two Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation research grants (2010 and 2011), a Presidential Research Award from Barnard College (2010), several grants from Columbia University (2010–13), two Mellon Fellowships in Security and Humanitarian Action (2004–06), and a Fulbright Fellowship (1999–2000).

She is one of the seven main characters in Timothy Pachirat's book Among Wolves.