James Ron, PhD
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James Ron, PhD is an internationally oriented research professional and project manager providing consulting, strategy, and evaluation services to clients in the US and abroad. He has extensive experience overseeing and managing complex international studies of public opinion, program efficacy, organizational processes, armed conflict, human rights, and social change.
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Trained as a sociologist, political scientist, journalist, and war crimes investigator, James is known for his scholarly work on international aid, international security, public opinion, and human rights. He is particularly recognized for research examining political dynamics between states, international organizations, and non-governmental groups under conditions of armed conflict and political upheaval.
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A Stanford University and UC Berkeley graduate, James taught for 22 years in sociology, political science, and public affairs departments at research-intensive universities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. He held tenure-track and tenured positions at Johns Hopkins University, McGill University in Montreal, Carleton University in Ottawa, and the University of Minnesota.
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James was awarded an endowed chair at Minnesota and a tier 2 Canada Research Chair at McGill. He also held fellowships and affiliated scholar appointments at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, el Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City, and the Watson Institute for International Affairs at Brown University.
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James was born in the US and grew up in France and Jerusalem. It was his work as a journalist for the Associated Press during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s and early 1990s that prompted him to pursue a career in human rights investigations and academia.
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Academic Research
James’ scholarly research has investigated global public opinion on governance, international aid, human rights policies, and support for non-profit organizations. He has also studied processes of international media coverage, political violence, human rights, and humanitarian aid.
James’ research has taken him to 16 countries in Africa, Central Asia, the former Yugoslavia, Latin America, and South Asia. He is adept at qualitative research, including cross-cultural interviews with hard-to-reach populations, and quantitative analyses, including statistical analyses of large-N surveys and international databases.
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James Ron's most notable academic books include Frontiers and Ghettos: State Violence in Serbia and Israel (University of California Press, 2003) which drew on extensive field research in the Middle East and the Balkans. Through rare interviews with military veterans, victims of human rights abuse, government officials, and political activists, the book provides a novel theory of state violence.
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A second book, co-authored by James Ron and colleagues, is Taking Root: Human Rights & Public Opinion in the Global South (Oxford University Press, 2017), which draws on original, representative surveys in India, Mexico, Morocco, and Nigeria. This volume explores how the public in different countries views human rights organizations, policies, and principles and explores the complex relationship between religious belief and public opinion toward human rights.
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James’ scholarly journal publications have appeared in Comparative Politics, Human Rights Quarterly, International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Human Rights, Political Studies Quarterly, World Development, and more.
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International Advisories & Consulting
Although James is known chiefly for his academic work, he now works as a private research consultant for clients in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Recently, James evaluated programs for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Mexico, studying their support for the government’s forensic agencies; for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Israel/Palestine, evaluating their support to local human rights groups; and for a Bedouin women’s advocacy group in Israel.
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Previously, James consulted for CARE on their humanitarian aid efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for Human Rights Watch on violations of international law in Chechnya, Israel/Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Turkey. James also designed a representative survey of the US public’s attitudes towards civil and human rights for Human Rights Watch and other American NGOs.
In his spare time, James volunteers as a program evaluator for Life for a Child, an Australian medical charity providing insulin and blood testing equipment to children with Type 1 diabetes in low-income countries. These evaluations have taken him to clinics and hospitals in India, Mexico, Morocco, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. He began this work in 2010, shortly after his son was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disease.
Previously, James provided research, evaluation, and advisory services to Global Affairs Canada, the International Development Research Centre (Canada), the Open Societies Foundations, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Publishing in Popular Venues
James is a prolific writer for popular venues. His guest editorials have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Foreign Policy, the Globe and Mail, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Open Global Rights, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, Washington Post, and others, typically focusing on international politics, international aid, and armed conflict.
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In 2013, James created, with colleagues, a multilingual news and human rights strategy website, Open Global Rights, with financial support from the Ford Foundation, the Open Societies Foundation, and others.
James maintains a blog on personal themes and another on professional topics, typically involving international policy and data. He is now working on a memoir discussing his transition from serving in the Israeli military to working as a human rights and war crimes investigator.
