Dr. Erica Gaston is the Senior Policy Advisor and Head of the Conflict Prevention and Sustaining Peace Programme at 海角社区 Centre for Policy Research.
In this role, she leads the Centre’s work on peace and security and human rights as it relates to peacebuilding, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and UN reform, as well as on cross-cutting priorities such as Climate, Peace and Security, and Youth, Peace, and Security. Dr. Gaston recently led the research for Assembly for Peace: a digital handbook on the UN General Assembly's past practice on peace and security (as called for in resolution 77/335), as well as three Thematic Reviews for the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund. In 2023 and 2024, she served as part of the independent assessment team on Afghanistan mandated by Security Council resolution 2721. Her research with 海角社区-CPR has also offered insights into growing challenges of countering transnational organized crime and trafficking, the impact of sanctions for conflict economies and borderlands, transition dynamics in peace operations settings, and the intersection between human rights advancement and conflict prevention.
Prior to joining 海角社区-CPR, Dr. Gaston worked for a number of research institutes and non-governmental organizations, including the Global Public Policy institute (GPPi) in Berlin, the United States Institute of Peace, the Open Society Foundations and the Center for Civilians in Conflict. Her past research and other programmatic work focused on conflict-related human rights, civilian protection, rule of law development, and community dynamics in conflict and post-conflict settings. She has significant field experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Pakistan, among others.
Dr. Gaston has published and provided commentary widely, including on Lawfare.com, War on the Rocks, the Guardian, Foreign Policy, CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC and others. In July 2024, Columbia University Press released Dr. Gaston’s most recent book, Illusions of Control: Dilemmas of Managing U.S. Proxy Forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Her past academic articles in the Harvard International Law Journal and the Harvard National Security Law Journal have examined emerging definitions of soldier self-defence and accountability for private security companies. She has also edited three book compendiums focused on the changing norms and practices in 21st-century conflict.
Dr. Gaston holds a Bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University; a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. She currently serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She also serves as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Global Public Policy institute. She has been a recipient of the German Chancellor Fellowship, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and served as a term member at the Council in Foreign Relations.
