Faculty

Profile

Peter J. Hoffman is Associate Professor of International Affairs in the Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs (GPIA) at The New School, and director of United Nations Summer Study. His work spans the fields of Strategic and Security Studies, International Organization, International Relations Theory, and Comparative Historical Sociology. Peter’s main focus is on the dynamics of war and global responses, concentrating primarily on the international humanitarian system. Other major areas of his work encompass the United Nations; global governance; asymmetric warfare and Fourth Generation Warfare; armed non-state actors (guerrillas, warlords, militias, terrorists, and private military and security contractors); and, United States foreign policy.

Peter’s scholarship has appeared in academic journals and books. His most recent book, Humanitarianism, War and Politics: Solferino to Syria and Beyond (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), analyzes seminal wartime emergencies and organizational developments and refines an approach of “Critical Humanitarianism.” He is currently at work on two projects: an analysis of changing principles and policies of humanitarian agencies regarding the use of private security contractors to protect aid workers (Mercy and Mercenaries: Critical Perspectives on Humanitarian Security Practices), and a comparative study of the power of culturally-driven knowledge production in shaping security behavior (War Zones: Security Cultures and the Politics of Conflict Analysis).

He has also been a consultant for non-governmental organizations—such as the Fund for Peace, the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, the Stanley Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and the Open Society Foundations—and was a member of the research team of the International Commission for Intervention and State Sovereignty that developed the concept of the “responsibility to protect.”

Peter is also a Research Fellow at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center of The City University of New York.

Degrees Held

PhD, The Graduate Center of The City University of New York

MA, Political Science with Certificate in International Affairs, The New School for Social Research

Research Interests

Conflict analysis, humanitarianism, private military and security sector, the United Nations, US foreign policy