Als meester in de rechten (Sorbonne, Parijs) en politicoloog (City University, New York) maakte hij carrière bij de Verenigde Naties en aan Harvard. Voor de VN in New York was hij research associate bij International Studies, en binnen Harvard doceerde hij aan het Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Na een periode als director of research bij de International Council on Human Rights Policy (Genève) werd hij twee jaar geleden -tot heden- associate director van het Harvard University onderzoeksproject 'Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research' (HPCR).
Boeken, rapporten en artikelen:
1995: Transition to Democracy in Mauretania
1996: Societal Transition to Democracy
1998: Iraq and the Secund Gulf War, State Building and Regime Security
2002: Journalism, Media, and the Challenge of Human Rights Reporting
2003: rapport Crime, Public Order and Human Rights
(voor de International Council on Human Rights Policy in Geneve)
2005: Time to Talk to Al Qaeda? (artikel in The Boston Globe, zie hiernaast)
2006: Understanding Al Qaeda. War, Law and Politics (verwacht: november)
Perstekst voor 'Understanding AL Qaeda'
'This is a clear and accesible introductory book which investigates the history of Al Qaeda since its creation almost twenty years ago. Al Qaeda has articulated and implemented a political strategy in which citizens are held formally accountable for their governments' policies. Such democratisation of responsibility is the unexamined mainstay of the war between the United States and Al Qaeda.
There is a great deal of resistance to a scientific, dispassionate understanding of Al Qaeda. This is the first book to examine the central tenents of the organisation and its demands and, most importantly, how it may be possible to achieve a compromise.'
(copyright Pluto Press, Independent Progressive Publishing, London)