Professor Timothy D. Sisk
Associate Dean for Research; and Director, Program on Fragile States, Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy
2201 S. Gaylord St.Office 208E
University of Denver
Denver, CO 80208
303.871.2998
Education
- PhD, Political Science, George Washington University
- MA, International Journalism, Baylor University
- BA, Foreign Service and German, Baylor University
Bio
Timothy D. Sisk is Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver and Director of the Program on Fragile States of the Sié Chéou Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the School. He specializes in civil wars and political violence, and conflict prevention, management, and peacebuilding in fragile and post-war contexts. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in Geneva, Switzerland.
His research focuses on the nexus between democracy and governance and the management of conflict in deeply divided societies, especially those emerging from civil war. He has conducted extensive research on the role of international and regional organizations, particularly the United Nations, in peace operations, peacemaking, and peacebuilding. He is also the editor of the journal of the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS), Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations.
Sisk’s latest scholarly book is titled Statebuilding: Consolidating Peace after Civil War (Polity, 2013). He is the editor of the 2012 edited volume, Between Terror and Tolerance: Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Georgetown University Press). Other recent books for which he is co-editor are: From War to Democracy: Dilemmas of Peacebuilding (with Anna Jarstad, Cambridge University Press 2008) and The Dilemmas of Statebuilding: Confronting the Contradictions of Postwar Peace Operations (with Roland Paris, Routledge 2009). Overall, he has authored or edited nine books and over 50 journal articles and chapters in books.
Prior to joining the University of Denver in 1998, Sisk was a Program Officer and Research Scholar in the Grant Program of the United States Institute of Peace in Washington and, prior to that, a professional staff member for United States Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas. Sisk earned a Ph.D. “with distinction” in political science (comparative politics, research methods) from The George Washington University, in 1992.
Teaching and Research Areas
Sisk's specializations in comparative politics are: democracy and democratization; political institutions and power sharing; governance and state-building; and political violence and peace processes. His specializations in international relations are: international organizations: peacemaking, peace operations, and peacebuilding; global issues, international interdependence, and global governance; and sport and international politics - The Olympic Games.
Select Publications
Books
- Statebuilding: Consolidating Peace after Civil War. Cambridge: Polity Press, forthcoming early 2013.
- The Routledge Handbook of International Statebuilding, edited with David Chandler. Abingdon, Oxford: Routledge, forthcoming early 2013.
- Between Terror and Tolerance: Religious Leaders and Conflict Management, editor. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2011.
- International Mediation in Civil Wars: Bargaining with Bullets. London: Routledge, 2009.
- The Dilemmas of Statebuilding: Confronting the Contradictions of Postwar Peace Operations, edited with Roland Paris. London: Routledge, 2009.
- From War to Democracy: Dilemmas of Peacebuilding, edited with Anna Jarstad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
- Democracy, Conflict, and Human Security: Pursuing Peace in the 21st Century, with Judith Large. Stockholm: International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Election Assistance), 2006. (Translated into Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Behasa). and Volume 2.
- Democracy at the Local Level: The International IDEA Handbook on Representation, Participation, Conflict Management and Governance. Stockholm: International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Election Assistance, Stockholm), 2001. (Translated to Russian, Spanish, and Behasa).
Policy Reports, Policy Papers, Occasional Papers
- Governance for Peace: Securing the Social Contract, with Rob Muggah. New York: United Nations Development Program, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, 2012.
- Vulnerability to Intrastate Conflict: Evaluating Quantitative Measures, with Barry Hughes and Jonathan Moyer, Peaceworks, Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2011.
- Cooperating for Peace: The Challenges and Promises of Partnerships in Peace Operations, Geneva Center for Security Policy, Geneva Papers, July 2010.
- Elections and Conflict Prevention: A Programming Guide. United Nations Development Programme, Bureau for Development Policy, Oslo Governance Center, 2009.
- “Managing Contradictions: The Inherent Dilemmas of Postwar Statebuilding,” International Peace Academy Policy Report, November 2007.
- “Democracy in Situations of Deep-Rooted Conflict,” pgs. 127-142 in International IDEA, Ten Years of Supporting Democracy Worldwide. Stockholm: International IDEA, 2005.
- Democracy and Peacebuilding at the Local Level: Lessons Learned. Stockholm: International IDEA, Fall 2005) (with Paul Risley). (Peer-reviewed Occasional Paper).
- Democracy at the Local Level in East and Southern Africa: Profiles in Governance. Stockholm, International IDEA, 2004.
- “Competing Claims: Self Determination and Security in the United Nations,” an International Peace Academy Policy Brief, April 2001 (with Simon Chesterman and Tom Farer).
- New Approaches to International Negotiation and Mediation: Findings from USIP-Sponsored Research, Peaceworks (U.S. Institute of Peace occasional paper series), 2000.
Courses
- INTS 4495: Civil Wars and International Responses I: Causes and Consequences
- INTS 4595: Civil Wars and International Responses II: Postwar Peacebuilding
- INTS 4501: Comparative Politics: States and Societies in the 21st Century
- INTS 4975: Democratization in Africa: Between Liberation and Consolidation
- INTS 4517: The Politics of Deeply Divided Societies
- INTS 3030: Sport and International Politics: Power, Culture, and Capitalism
- INTS 3090: The Nobel Peace Prize: From Henry Kissinger to Mother Teresa
Other Faculty and Academic Administration Positions
Visiting Professor of Political Science, The University of Tűbingen, Germany, Fall 2001
Professorial Lecturer, Georgetown University, 1993-1998
Professorial Lecturer, The George Washington University, 1992-1993
