Andrew Sinclair (B.A.'05) spent two years with the Peace Corps in the Jordan Valley. After returning to the U.S. in '07, he earned his Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University, where he also taught courses on the Middle East. After graduation, Andrew was a Program Officer for NYU's Center on International Cooperation, where he served as the lead researcher and volume editor of the 2011 Annual Review of Global Peace Operations. In 2011, he began a one-year tour with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in eastern Afghanistan, where he is currently working on a joint civilian-military provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in Paktya province.
"A background in anthropology has helped me situate myself in an environment where I can truly partner with my Afghan counterparts and avoid the common pitfalls of a directive mode of engagement," Andrew said. "The counterinsurgency mission in eastern Afghanistan is complex: we're simultaneously extending the Afghan government's capacity to deliver basic social services, trying to achieve stabilization, and working toward transitioning to full Afghan ownership of security and governance Approaching these complex tasks from a holistic anthropological perspective has helped me tremendously."
Posted February 26, 2012 - 4:20pm
Andrew Sinclair
