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International efforts, such as the Paris Agreement, aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But experts say countries aren’t doing enough to limit dangerous global warming.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
Michelle D. Gavin is the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She has over twenty years of experience in international affairs in government and non-profit roles. She was formerly the managing director of The Africa Center, a multidisciplinary institution dedicated to increasing understanding of contemporary Africa. From 2011 to 2014 she was the United States ambassador to Botswana and served concurrently as the United States representative to the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
During Ambassador Gavin’s tenure, the United States and Botswana launched the most ambitious HIV prevention study in the world; Botswana hosted Southern Accord, the 1,400-strong joint SADC-U.S. military exercise; and the U.S. embassy helped to found Botswana’s first American Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, she was a special assistant to President Obama and the senior director for Africa at the National Security Council, where she helped to originate the Young African Leaders Initiative and led major policy reviews of Sudan and Somalia.
Before joining the Obama administration, Gavin was an international affairs fellow and adjunct fellow for Africa at CFR. Earlier in her career she worked in the U.S. Senate, where she was the staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s subcommittee on African affairs, director of international policy issues for Senator Russ Feingold, and legislative director for Senator Ken Salazar.
Gavin received an MPhil in international relations from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes scholar, and earned her BA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she was a Truman scholar. She serves on the board of directors of Points of Light and the Africa-America Institute.
Affiliations:
- Africa-America Institute Board, member
- Emerging Public Leaders Board, member
- Points of Light Board, Program and Impact Committee, chair
- The Greentree Foundation, consultant
Current Projects
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Sudan's June 30 demonstrations reflect citizens' desire for civilian control of the state, and the junta's discomfort with expressions of popular will. The international actors involved with Sudan should take note.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from June 18 to June 24, 2022.
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Mozambique is at a moment of peak international leverage, but faces significant domestic challenges.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from June 11 to June 17, 2022.
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Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs of the United States Jendayi Frazer speaks about the evolution of U.S. policy toward Somaliland.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from June 4 to June 10, 2022.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from May 28 to June 3, 2022.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from May 21 to May 27, 2022.
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Zimbabwe’s worsening social, political, and economic landscape means trouble for the Southern Africa subregion.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from May 14 to May 20, 2022.
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The dialogues in the Horn of Africa inspire little confidence to resolve the region’s crises while U.S. diplomatic efforts seem insufficient in an area of strategic interest.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from May 7 to May 13, 2022.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from April 30 to May 6, 2022.
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President Hassan's emphasis on economic growth and political liberalization in Tanzania are especially compelling to the United States in the context of a generally troubled East Africa.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from April 23 to April 29, 2022.
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As the DRC becomes the newest member of the East African Community, the regional organization confronts multiple challenges in its effort to tackle insecurity in eastern Congo.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from April 16 to April 22, 2022.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from April 9 to April 15, 2022.
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Somali politicians use nationalism to evade political pressure that seeks to create a more accountable and effective state.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from April 2 to April 8, 2022.
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Supporters of a transition must find ways to counter the junta.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from March 26 to April 1, 2022.
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This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger from March 19 to March 25, 2022.
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News of a truce in Ethiopia is welcome, but it far from guarantees an end to the Tigray conflict.