Staff Members
Naureen Kabir
Editor-in-Chief
Naureen focuses on international security issues and international negotiation/conflict resolution, with a particularly interest in non-state armed groups and Islamic extremism. Prior to attending Fletcher, she was Assistant Director of the National Program at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, where she oversaw programs in 14 cities. Naureen has also worked in publishing and for non-profit organizations in the United States and abroad. She received her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Bryn Mawr College.
Blake Ratcliff
Managing Editor
Blake is pursing a certificate in Sustainable Development, concentrating in international environmental policy, international organizations, and international security studies. He has also served as a Research Assistant at Fletcher’s Center for International Environment and Resource Policy. Blake has clerked at the U.S. EPA on enforcement and international issues, and researched Caspian hydrocarbon projects at Allen & Overy LLP. As a law clerk at the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, he wrote and researched briefs for the successful opposition to the construction of the Broadwater LNG regasification unit in the Long Island Sound. Blake received his bachelor’s degree in Russian Area Studies from Dartmouth College, and his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Jamie Lynn De Coster
Director of Marketing and Sales
Jamie focuses on international security issues and human security. She is an active duty Lieutenant in the United States Navy and has served on the USS Hopper (DDG 70) and the USS Cape St. George (CG 71). Jamie holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California.
Erik Iverson
Contributing Editor
Erik is a Fletcher School PhD student interested in national security organization and management. He was previously an analyst supporting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he worked on a variety of issues related to homeland security operations research, catastrophic event response and recovery, and preparedness policy. Erik received his bachelor's degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
Joshua Gross
Senior Editor
Joshua Gross concentrates on human security, with special interest in political transitions and the nexus of development and stabilization policy. He has previously served as the Director of Media Relations for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C., and as a consultant for the Project on National Security Reform. He has been published in the Christian Science Monitor, Real Clear Politics, the Jerusalem Report, the Connecticut Post, the Forward, and the Detroit Metro Times. He has interned with the Asia Foundation in Nepal and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, where he was the recipient of the Avery Hopwood Award.
Mohammed Herzallah
Senior Editor
Mohammed studies international monetary policy and political systems at the Fletcher School and is a research assistant at the Fares Center. Previously, he was a junior research fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC. Most recently, he worked for Newsweek Magazine. He has published articles in the Daily Star, Ahram Weekly, Newsweek Magazine, and the Washington Post. He received his B.A. from Harvard College in 2007.
Lisa Inks
Senior Editor
Lisa focuses on conflict resolution and human security. Previously, she worked as the program manager at Global Nomads Group, linking youth around the world through videoconferencing to discuss international affairs. She also worked in editing and fundraising at Archipelago Books, a nonprofit press that publishes international literature in translation, and in community development in Lima, Peru. Lisa received a BA in English and Spanish from Indiana University.
Ches Thurber
Senior Editor
Ches concentrates on international security, U.S. foreign policy, and the Middle East. He previously worked as a legislative aide in both the U.S. House of Representative and the Vermont General Assembly. He is particularly interested in the intersection of domestic politics and foreign policy decision-making. Ches received his bachelor's degree in International Studies and Italian from Middlebury College.
Jessica Varat
Senior Editor
Jessica Varat is focusing on Conflict Resolution and International Negotiation. Prior to coming to Fletcher, she spent three years working for the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. There, she organized programming and edited publications on democratic governance in the Andean region (with a focus on Bolivia), crime and violence in Latin American cities, and the politics of energy in South America. She holds a degree in International Relations from Wellesley College.
Matteo Tomasini
Book Review Editor
Matteo is studying conflict resolution and international security studies with a focus on the Middle East. He is also a research assistant at the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies. He most recently served as the Research and Advocacy Fellow at an Iraq-focused NGO in DC where he worked primarily on addressing the displacement crisis and defining an economic approach to resolving the Iraq conflict. Previously, he conducted research on various Middle East issues at the Burkle Center at UCLA and the Brookings Institution in DC. Matteo received his bachelor's degree in international relations and history from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Sanhita Ambast
Staff Editor
Sanhita focuses on Public International Law and International Organisations. She recently received her undergraduate law degree from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, India. While at University, Sanhita worked on the editorial board of law reviews, with organisations such as the National Judicial Academy, Haq – Centre for Child Rights, the Centre for the Study of Caste, Communalism and the Law and completed a Judicial Clerkship at the Supreme Court of India. She also volunteered with several non-governmental organisations that promoted the implementation and practice of human rights law in India.
Elise Crane
Staff Editor
Elise is focusing on conflict resolution and international communication with an emphasis on public diplomacy. Prior to Fletcher, she worked for three years in Prague as the representative of Project Syndicate, an international media organization aimed at bridging the gap between newspapers in the developed and developing worlds and to supporting press freedom worldwide. She is particularly interested in the myriad roles of media in instigating, perpetuating, and resolving social conflict. Elise earned a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Colorado and holds a certificate in Russian Language and Culture from St. Petersburg State University.
Jacqueline Deelstra
Staff Editor
Jacqueline focuses on human security and international information and communication, with a specific interest in the media’s role in the formation of public policy and promotion of human rights. Just prior to starting at Fletcher she was a WorldTeach volunteer in Ecuador. She also previously worked on marketing and communications efforts for the Seattle branch of Big Brothers Big Sisters and in a similar capacity for a Senegal-based human rights organization called Tostan. Jacqueline received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in Print Journalism and International Relations.
Elizabeth Dreeland
Staff Editor
Elizabeth focuses on security studies, policy analysis and issues of identity and nationalism. Most recently, she worked in Uruguay as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant, teaching classes on U.S. and English culture, history, and language. She has also worked as a research analyst for a non-partisan think tank in Arizona, specializing in illegal immigration, water resources, and ballot propositions. Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degrees in history, English literature, and Spanish as well as a Certificate in Latin America Studies at Arizona State University.
Bart Smit Duijzentkunst
Staff Editor
Bart studies public international law and international relations, with a focus on international investment arbitration. Prior to coming to Fletcher, he worked for an international law firm in Paris and Amsterdam and at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. He studied law in Cambridge (UK) and in Utrecht (the Netherlands), where he received a LL.M degree.
Rabeh Ghadban
Staff Editor
Rabeh is a Lebanese-American interested in political development in the Middle East. He has spent the last two years working within Lebanese civil society to promote political development and as a freelance journalist. At Fletcher, he will be looking to broaden his scope of knowledge through focusing on international business and security studies. Rabeh graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 2006 with a B.A. in international relations.
Sarah Hahn
Staff Editor
Sarah is focusing on international business and the intersection of the private and public sector in development. She has spent the majority of her career in philanthropy, most recently working for a small membership organization of foundations funding projects in Africa. She was a Rotary World Peace Fellow at the Universidad del Salvador in Argentina, where she received a master’s in international relations with a concentration in peace and conflict resolution. Sarah earned her bachelor’s degree in economics and Spanish from Ohio Wesleyan University.
Fatima Jafri
Staff Editor
Fatima focuses on international law and politics of the Middle East and South Asia. Previously, she has spent time working and researching at The Council for Arab and British Understanding, The Dubai School of Government, and The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. She has published articles Common Ground News and Women Living Under Muslim Law. She received her B.A. from Trinity College in 2008 in International Studies and Women Studies; culminating in an undergraduate thesis entitled “The Trinity of Misogyny: Mullahs, Money and Military in Pakistan.”
Dmitri Lieders
Staff Editor
Dmitri is pursuing joint degrees at The Fletcher School and Boston College Law School. Previously, he has worked at Yale Law School's Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, where he focused on a number of cases involving immigration and labor law. At Fletcher, Dmitri is concentrating in human security and international organizations. He graduated from Wesleyan University with a bachelor's degree in Italian Studies and a Certificate in International Relations.
Jenny Marron
Staff Editor
Jenny focuses on conflict resolution and human security. Prior to coming to Fletcher, she worked at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in Washington DC as a contractor focused on nuclear issues. Her work included policy support, working with interagency partners, and designing handbooks and other publications. She continues to work at SAIC part-time while completing her studies. She is particularly interested in the intersection between top-level national security policy and ground-level human security, especially in post-conflict societies. She holds a BA in political science from Duke University.
Amanda Moodie
Staff Editor
Amanda focuses on security studies and conflict resolution. Before coming to Fletcher, she was a program analyst at CSC with the International Counterproliferation Program, which provides law enforcement and border security training to officials in Central and Eastern European countries to prevent illicit trafficking of WMD-related materials. She has also worked for the Center for Nonproliferation Studies and for the U.S. office of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Amanda holds a bachelor's degree in political science and English from Duke University.
David Reidy
Staff Editor
David focuses on security studies and Islamic Civilization, with a special concentration on peace operations. He worked most recently for the William J Clinton Foundation as a Program Officer addressing pediatric HIV/AIDS in Mumbai, India. Before that he taught elementary school English in Beijing, China, and worked in Washington DC for the U.S. Senate. David received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Brown University.
Tim Ridout
Staff Editor
Tim focuses on international security studies and U.S. foreign policy, with a particular interest in U.S. relations with Latin America. Prior to Fletcher, he worked as a communications consultant at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He has also worked in government relations at Donoghue Barrett & Singal, a Boston law firm. Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Wesleyan University.
Jeremy White
Staff Editor
Jeremy is focusing on Security Studies and SW Asia. Previously he worked as a research assistant in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he worked on issues relating to homeland defense, Iraq, homeland security policy, and future military readiness. He also served in 2007 as a member of the staff on the Jones Commission studying the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces.Jeremy received his Bachelor's degree in Government from Georgetown University.
Lesley Young
Staff Editor
Lesley focuses on security studies and development economics, with an interest in the nexus between crime and terrorism. Most recently, she worked at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the organization's Terrorism Prevention Branch. She has also worked with Teach For America, a domestic education non-profit, in New York City and the Mississippi Delta. Lesley received her B.A. in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Washington.
Chris Giliberti
Business Associate
Chris, a Philosophy major, is a member of the Tufts University undergraduate class of 2010. He is an Editor-in-Chief at Hemispheres: Tufts Undergraduate Journal of International Affairs. His past employers include the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he served as a research assistant, and Booz & Co, for whom he authored a study on the market penetration of hybrid-electric vehicles. He published the findings from his research in Strategy+Business, October 2008. Shortly thereafter, his work saw international syndication by the New York Times in January 2009.
Benjamin Sacks
Business Associate
Benjamin is a B.A. candidate at Tufts University where he focuses on British and Commonwealth history. Recently his work was featured in an exhibit at the Tufts University Art Galleries entitled “Constructing La Belle Époque: Historical Documentation in the Beautiful Age, 1886-1936.”