About James Ron

James Ron, PhD, is a senior research professional and project manager offering consulting and evaluation services to both international and domestic clients. James has extensive experience overseeing complex international studies of armed conflict, human rights, organizational processes, international aid delivery and impact, public opinion, and social change.

Trained as a sociologist, political scientist, journalist, and human rights investigator, James is known particularly for his scholarly work on international aid, international security, public opinion, and human rights. Some of his best-known research examines how states, international organizations, and non-governmental groups interact in situations of armed conflict and political instability. James is also recognized for his work on international public opinion on governance, human rights, and public advocacy in high, medium, and low-income countries.

This website, jamesron.net, is home to a blog focused on personal themes, including reviews of books, contemporary events, and personal observations.

Academic Positions

James Ron holds a PhD in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BA in political science from Stanford University. He taught for 21 years in research-intensive universities in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

In the US, James held a tenure track position in sociology and political science at the main Baltimore campus of Johns Hopkins University. Later, he was a tenured professor at the University of Minnesota in its departments of public affairs and political science, with an emphasis on international affairs and human rights.

In Canada, James held tenured positions in sociology at McGill University, located in Montreal, and in international public service at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, a noted graduate training program housed in Ottawa’s Carleton University.

In Mexico, James was a visiting and later associated professor of international studies at el Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City, a publicly funded research and teaching institute.

James has been the recipient of multiple academic awards and fellowships. At McGill University, he held a Canada Research Chair (tier 2) in Conflict and Human Rights, funded by the Canadian and Quebec governments. At the University of Minnesota, he held the Harold Stassen Chair in international affairs, endowed by private donors. James has also held fellowships at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and at the Watson Institute for International Affairs at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. James was also awarded an Olin fellowship at Harvard University and a Fulbright from the US government, but was unable to accept either for personal reasons.

Research Themes

Using statistical methods, James' scholarly research has explored cross-national public opinion towards international and domestic governance, human and civil rights, and support for non-profit entities. For these analyses, James designed surveys and led survey teams in Colombia, India, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, and the United States.

In earlier co-authored research, James and his colleagues used statistical methods to study attention towards human rights issues in leading media outlets, such as the Economist and Newsweek, and by leading advocacy groups, such as Amnesty International.

Using qualitative case studies and rare, one-on-one interviews, James has also studied patterns of political violence and human rights abuse in Israel/Palestine, the former Yugoslavia, Peru, the Republic of Congo, and Turkey. His landmark study of international aid agencies, “The NGO Scramble,” co-authored with political scientist Alexander Cooley, is a widely cited analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of international humanitarian assistance. That effort drew on interviews with aid actors and others in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Yugoslavia, and Kyrgyzstan.

James Ron’s research has been supported by multiple governmental and private funding agencies. In Canada, he received support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the International Development Research Centre, Global Affairs Canada, the Canada Research Chairs program, the Canada Fund for Innovation, and the Quebec government. In the US, James received research grants from the Ford Foundation, Open Societies Foundations, Social Science Research Council, National Science Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and others.

In addition to publishing two scholarly books with the University of California Press and Oxford University Press, James has published scholarly articles in leading disciplinary journals. In sociology, his work has appeared in Contexts, Social Problems and Theory and Society. In political science, James Ron's articles have been published by Comparative Politics and Political Studies Quarterly. In international relations, James’ research has appeared in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, International Studies Quarterly, International Organization, International Security, and the Review of International Political Economy. James's scholarly work has also appeared multiple times in Human Rights Quarterly, the Journal of Human Rights, and World Development.

International Consultancies

Although James is known chiefly for his academic work, he now consults for clients in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Working with an international team of program evaluators, James recently assessed international aid to governments in Mexico and Central America for their work on forensic identification. As part of another international group of analysts, James evaluated European assistance to human rights organizations in Israel and the Palestinian territories. A third recent study evaluated research on women’s employment by a Bedouin rights group in Israel.

In earlier years, James consulted for the US-based international humanitarian agency, CARE, studying the political and human rights implications of their aid to refugees from Rwanda in Goma, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. James also consulted for over thirty years for Human Rights Watch, assessing violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Chechnya, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Turkey. For the International Committee of the Red Cross, James studied civilian protection efforts in Bosnia and Croatia, analyzing the Red Cross’ collaboration and competition with other international agencies. Over the years, James has specialized in violations of the laws of war, assessing allegations made against the Israeli, Russia, Serbian, and Turkish militaries.

Whenever he can, James volunteers as a consultant and program advisor for Life for a Child, a medical non-profit affiliated with the International Diabetes Federation. The group provides insulin and blood testing equipment to children and youth with Type 1 diabetes in low-income countries. This work has taken James Ron to hospitals and clinics in India, Mexico, Morocco, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Through these research projects, James has interviewed ordinary men and women, military officers, political leaders, and social activists in the Balkans, Central Asia, Latin America, Middle East, north Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. James speaks Hebrew fluently in addition to his native English and can also conduct interviews in Spanish and French. James has also conducted interviews in the field with translators worldwide.

Publishing in Popular Venues

James Ron publishes frequently for general audiences. He has published guest editorials in venues such as the Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Foreign Policy, Globe and Mail (Canada), International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Open Global Rights, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Star, and the Washington Post. In these articles, James has typically focused on original, research-driven insights into the dynamics of international politics, foreign aid, human rights, and armed conflict.

In 2013, James co-founded Open Global Rights, a multilingual news and human rights strategy website with support from the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and others. This site has become widely read by scholars and practitioners in the field and is known for publishing short, well-written, and accessible articles summarizing contemporary debates in the field of human rights measurement, strategy, research, and advocacy.

In pursuing these writing projects, James was aided by his early, rigorous training with the Jerusalem bureau of the Associated Press, where he worked first as a translator and then as a junior reporter.

In addition to his consulting, James is now working on a series of creative writing projects. He maintains a second blog on data-driven research and is working on a memoir describing his transition from military service to human rights and war crimes investigation.