Diana Chigas

• J.D., Harvard Law School
• MALD, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
• B.A., Yale University

Diana Chigas is Professor of the Practice of International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at The Fletcher School and also services as Senior International Officer and Associate Provost at Tufts University. As Senior International Officer, she is responsible for leading the development and realization of university-wide global strategy. 

Prior to joining the Provost’s office, Diana was also director of the Reflecting on Peace Practice program and co-director of collaborative learning at CDA, a non-governmental organization dedicated to working with development, humanitarian and peacebuilding practitioners and the private sector globally to improve the effectiveness of international assistance in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. At CDA, Diana focused on systemic approaches to conflict analysis and planning, reflection and evaluation to improve the impact of peace programming. Diana was a contributor to the 2012 OECD DAC guidelines on evaluation of conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and to guidance for the UK on evaluation of peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity.

Diana has over 30 years of experience as a facilitator and consultant in negotiation and conflict resolution. Her work has included development of strategies, training and advice on preventive diplomacy in the OSCE, training for the United Nations and several regional organizations, “track two” dialogue in El Salvador, in South Africa, Ecuador and Peru and in the Georgia/South Ossetia peace process, and facilitation of inter-ethnic dialogue in Cyprus.

Diana currently co-directs the Corruption, Justice and Legitimacy (CJL) Program at Fletcher’s Leir Institute, a research-to-practice initiative that aims to improve the effectiveness of anti-corruption programming in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. Her current research focuses on social norms and corruption, and the intersection of peacebuilding and corruption.

Visit the Corruption in Fragile States Blog

Areas of expertise

Humanitarian Affairs
Negotiations & Conflict Resolution

Professional Activities

• Trustee, Berghof Foundation (Berlin)
• Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School
• Alliance for Peacebuilding

Other Affiliations

• Institute for Human Security
• International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Office of the Provost

Courses taught

• DHP D220 Processes of International Negotiation
• GMA D220 International Negotiations and Leadership

ARTICLES

Understanding Social Norms: A reference guide for policy and practice  With C. Scharbatke-Church. Leir Institute, Fletcher School (2019).

“Strengthening Rule of Law Approaches to Address Organized Crime:  Social Norms,” With P. Dininio. USAID White Paper. Washington, D.C.: USAID and MSI (2019).

"Facilitation in the Criminal Justice System: A Systems Analysis of Corruption in the Police and Courts in Northern Uganda," with Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church. Occasional Paper, Institute for Human Security, Fletcher School (2016).

"Taking the Blinders Off: Questioning How Development Assistance is Used to Combat Corruption," with Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church. Occasional Paper, Institute for Human Security, Fletcher School, Tufts University (2016).

"From Little to Large: When Does Peacebuilding Add Up?" with A. Ernstorfer & H. Vaughan-Lee. Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. Vol. 10, No. 1 (2015).

"Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals by Supporting Peace: How Business Can Contribute," with A. Ernstorfer, A. Gardaz Cuendet, & L. Tejeda. New York: United Nations Global Compact (2015).

Evaluating Impacts of Peacebuilding Interventions: Approaches and methods, challenges and considerations, with M. Church and V. Corlazzoli. CCVRI Guidance Product. London: DFID (2014).

Theories and Indicators of Change: Concepts and Primers for Conflict Management and Mitigation, with E. Babbitt & R. Wilkinson. Washington, DC: USAID (2013).

Monitoring and Evaluating Conflict Sensitivity: Methodological Challenges and Practical Solutions, with R. Goldwyn. London: Department for International Development (2013).

"A Distinction with a Difference: Conflict Sensitivity and Peacebuilding," with Peter Woodrow. Cambridge, MA: CDA Collaborative Learning Projects (2009).

"Encouraging Effective Evaluation Of Conflict Prevention And Peacebuilding Activities: Towards DAC Guidance," with M. Anderson and P. Woodrow. DCD (2007)3. Paris: OECD-DAC, 2007.

Chigas, Diana. "Unofficial Interventions with Official Actors: Parallel Negotiation Training in Violent Intrastate Conflicts." International Negotiation 2, no. 3 (1997): 409-436.

BOOKS

“Using Systems Thinking to Understand and Address Corruption in the Criminal Justice System in Fragile States, with C. Scharbatke-Church, in Seabrook, J. (Ed.)  Corruption, Social Sciences and the Law: Explorations across the Disciplines.  London: Routledge (2019).

"Adding Up to Peace: The Cumulative Impacts of Peace Initiatives," with P. Woodrow. Cambridge, MA: CDA Collaborative Learning Projects (2018).

"Negotiating Public Health in a Globalized World: Global Health Diplomacy in Action," with D. Fairman, E. McClintock & N. Drager. Springer Briefs in Public Health. Dordrecht: Springer (2012).

"What Difference Has Peacebuilding Made? A Study of Peacebuilding and the March ’04 Riots in Kosovo," Prishtine/Pristina, Kosovo: CARE and CDA (2006).

BOOK CHAPTERS

"The Harvard Study Group on Cyprus: Contributions to an Unfulfilled Peace Process." In Lund, M. (Ed.) Across the Lines of Conflict: Facilitating Cooperation to Build Peace. New York: Woodrow Wilson Center International Center for Scholars and Columbia University Press (2015).

"Systems Thinking in Peacebuilding Evaluations: Applications in Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Kosovo," with Peter Woodrow, in Andersen, O., Bull, B. & Kennedy-Chouane, M. (Eds.) Evaluation Methodologies for Aid in Conflict. London: Routledge Press (2014).

"The Role and Effectiveness of Non-Governmental Third Parties in Peacebuilding," in Fritz, J. (Ed.) Moving Toward a Just Peace: The Mediation Continuum. Dordrecht: Springer (2014).

"How do our operations interact with the environment?" with D. Bardouille-Crema & B. Miller. In Ganson, B. Management in Complex Environments: Questions for Leaders. Stockholm: International Council of Swedish Industry (2013).

"Connecting the Dots: Evaluating Whether and How Programmes Address Conflict Systems," with Peter Woodrow, in Ropers, N. et al. (Eds). The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes: Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation. Opladen/Farmington Hills: Barbara Budrich Verlag (2011).

"Capacities and Limits of NGOs as Conflict Managers," in Crocker, C., Hampson, F. and Aall, P. (eds.), Leashing the Dogs of War. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Institute of Peace (2007).

Chigas, Diana. "Negotiating Intractable Conflicts: the Contribution of Unofficial Intermediaries." In Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict, eds. Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, United States Institute of Peace Press, 2005.

Chigas, Diana. "Grand Visions and Small Projects: Coexistence Efforts in Southeastern Europe." In Imagine Coexistence: Restoring Humanity After Violent Ethnic Conflict, eds. Antonia Chayes and Martha L. Minow, 2003.

Chigas, Diana. "La Diplomacia Preventiva y la OSCE." In Negociacion 2000: La Coleccion de Conflict Management, ed. Danny Ertel, McGraw Hill, 1996.

Chigas, Diana. "Preventive Diplomacy and the OSCE: Creating Incentives for Dialogue and Cooperation." In Preventing Conflict in the Post-Communist World: Mobilizing International and Regional Organizations, eds. Abram Chayes and Antonia Handler Chayes, Brookings Institute, 1996.