Frances Z. Brown

Dr. Frances Z. Brown is a vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She also co-directs Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program, and oversees the Africa program and Global Order and Institutions program at the vice-presidential level.  

Before joining Carnegie in 2017, Brown served as director for democracy and fragile states on the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff, where she helped manage policy processes on democracy support and conflict stabilization efforts.  Prior to the NSC, Brown worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives, managing political transition programs in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

Other experience includes work at the Defense Department, in non-profits, and in the private sector. Previous research roles include fellowships with the Council on Foreign Relations, Columbia University, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, as well as her doctoral work at Oxford.  

She has published in the American Interest, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the International Herald Tribune, and elsewhere. On television, Brown has commented on U.S. foreign policy for BBC World News, ABC News (Australia), al-Jazeera, and elsewhere. She is a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project.