Department of Political Science
2115 G St. NW, Monroe Hall 440
Washington, DC 20052

Phone: (202) 994-6290
Fax: (202) 994-7743
polsci@gwu.edu

Christina Caan

E-mail — ccaan@gwmail.gwu.edu

Major — International Relations

Minor — American Politics

Current Research

International relations, peacebuilding operations, political psychology, and US foreign policy

Education

B.A. University of California at Berkeley

M.A. American University

Background

I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Political Science Department at George Washington University studying international relations, with a focus on international security. While in Washington D.C., I have worked for the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability at the United States Institute of Peace and the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. I am also the program coordinator for the Security Policy Forum and a graduate teaching fellow.

Publications

Dissertation Title: Making Peace with Analogies: How the Lessons of History Shape Peacebuilding Operations

Committee: James Lebovic (chair), James Goldgeier, and Elizabeth Saunders

Christina Caan (contributing writer), Beth Cole and Emily Hsu (Lead Writers), Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction, United States Institute of Peace and U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, United States Institute of Peace Press, 2009.

Christina Caan, Beth Cole DeGrasse, Paul Hughes, and Daniel Serwer, "Is This Any Way to Run an Occupation? The Struggle for Legitimate, Effective, and Sustainable Governance in Post-Conflict Iraq," chapter in Karen Guttieri and Jessica Piombo, Interim Governments: Bridges to Peace and Democracy?, Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2007.

Christina Caan, "Journey of Death: Suicide Bombers in Iraq," United States Institute of Peace Briefing, July 2007.

Christina Caan and Scott Worden, "Rebuilding Civil Society in Afghanistan: Fragile Progress and Formidable Obstacles," United States Institute of Peace Briefing, July 2007.

Christina Caan and Beth Cole DeGrasse, "United States Institute of Peace Special Report: Transitional Governance: From Bullets to Ballots," United States Institute of Peace, Stabilization and Reconstruction Series No. 2, June 2006.

Christina Caan, "Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Stabilization: What Have We Learned from Iraq and Afghanistan," United States Institute of Peace Briefing, April 2005.

Christina Caan (contributor), Frederick Barton and Bathsheba Crocker, Project Directors, "In the Balance: Measuring Progress in Afghanistan," Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 2005.

Christina Caan (contributor), Frederick Barton and Bathsheba Crocker, Project Directors, "Voices of a New Afghanistan," Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 2005.

Christina Caan (contributor), Frederick Barton and Bathsheba Crocker, Project Directors, "Progress or Peril: Measuring Iraq's Reconstruction, Public Opinion in Iraq," Center for Strategic and International Studies, November 2004.

Christina Caan (contributor), Frederick Barton and Bathsheba Crocker, Project Directors, "Progress or Peril: Measuring Iraq's Reconstruction, August-October Update," Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 2004.

Christina Caan (contributor), Frederick Barton and Bathsheba Crocker, Project Directors, "Progress or Peril: Measuring Iraq's Reconstruction," Center for Strategic and International Studies, September 2004."

Conference Presentation

"Making Peace with Analogies: Explaining the Pre-war Planning Failures for Postwar Iraq," Conference on Political Psychology, Princeton University, February 2011.