James Ron, PhD, is an author and social scientist. A former academic, he 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.

 

James 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.

 

He has also published major reports for Human Rights Watch.  

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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. 

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Recent commentary by James Ron: 

• International Recognition of Palestine and the Risk of a West Bank "Frontier" - A worst-case scenario, published in the United Kingdom-based online journal, "E-International Relations," describes what might happen if even parts of the West Bank were to be pried from Israeli control without a robust international security force. 

• A Sad Prediction Born Out by Events - James’s reflections on Gaza, published on the University of California Press Authors’ Blog.

• Faith Tradition and Support for Deportation in the US - A new essay for the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC.