Political science professor Severine Autesserre was a featured speaker at the recent TEDGlobal conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she discussed what can be learned from the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In her TED Talk, she draws upon her experience as a humanitarian aid worker in the Congo to suggest that international peace efforts should focus more on local conflicts in order to address the larger crisis that has destabilized most of Central Africa for the last 18 years. Watch Prof. Autesserre's full TED Talk:



Check out Prof. Autesserre's other recent media appearances, including an on-air interview with Al Jazeera.

Prof. Autesserre joined Barnard's faculty in 2007. Her research focuses on African politics, international relations, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and the politics of humaniarian and development aid. Peaceland, her most recent book, was published in April; her previous book The Trouble with the Congo: Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding, received the 2012 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.