James Ron, PhD, is an author and social scientist. A former academic, human rights and war crimes investigator, program evaluator, soldier, and journalist, James spent four decades studying political violence and international affairs.

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James taught international relations, political science, and sociology at Johns Hopkins, McGill (Canada Research Chair), Carleton, and the University of Minnesota (Endowed Chair). He held fellowships and visiting appointments at the Brookings Institution, Brown University’s Watson Institute, and CIDE in Mexico City.

 

His research in Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East combined interviews, public opinion surveys, and statistical analysis. His scholarly articles appeared in International Organization, International Security, Human Rights Quarterly, and World Development, among others.

 

He authored a book on political violence, Frontiers and Ghettos: State Violence in Serbia and Israel, with the University of California Press, and co-authored a volume on cross-national attitudes towards human rights with Oxford University Press, Taking Root: Public Opinion and Human Rights in the Global South.

 

James Ron also published major reports for Human Rights Watch, establishing his expertise as a war crimes investigator and human rights expert. 

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James's commentary has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Le Monde, The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, and other leading newspapers, bridging the gap between scholarship and public debate.

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James has stepped away from academia and consulting and is working on a memoir about his transition from soldiering to human rights documentation in the Palestinian territories. 

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This site, jamesron.org, features his blog on research, data, and international issues. Please visit www.jamesron.net for his blog on personal themes. 

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For more information on James Ron's scholarly work, please visit his PhilPeople, Semantic Scholar, Web of Science, ORCID, Google Scholar, Social Science Research Network, and ResearchGate profiles. 

To learn more about James Ron's work as a consultant, please visit his "Author & Social Scientist" profile on LinkedIn.