Klem Ryan
About   

I am a consultant and senior advisor on IHL, international peace and development. I have been fortunate to work in senior roles around the world, with a particular focus on peacekeeping, protection of civilians, the security sector, and international sanction regimes.

I was formerly the coordinator of the UN Security Council Panel of Experts on South Sudan and have served in UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan (UNMISS) and Timor Leste (UNMIT), and as the Head of the Resident Coordinator Office in Samoa. I have also been a Senior Advisor to the European Institute of Peace developing conflict analysis and leading mediation projects, mainly focused on the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Before completing my doctorate in political theory at the University of Oxford, I served as an officer in the Royal New Zealand Navy deployed on active service throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia, including peace monitoring operations Bougainville and fishery patrols in the Southern Ocean.

Research and Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Political Theory, Brasenose College, University of Oxford.
Master of Science in Philosophy and Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Bachelor of Arts in History, Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), University of Auckland.

My doctorate examined the jurisprudence of early modern international humanitarian law. I write and present on international politics, protection of civilians, South Sudan, peacekeeping, sanctions, and the laws of war.

Selected
publications
'Institutionalising an Emergency Response: ‘Protection of Civilians’ Sites at UN Bases in South Sudan as a Way to Deal with Violence Against Communities', Civil Wars, April 2024.
'EU Weapons Exports Will Backfire', Global Public Policy Institute - Peace Lab, 27 August 2019.
'Taking Stock of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan', Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2019.
'What’s Wrong with Drones?' in The American Way of Bombing, edited by Matthew Evangelista and Henry Shue, Cornell University Press, 2014.

Public talks
and Interviews
Chatham House, UN Peacekeeping and the Protection of Civilians: Lessons from South Sudan.
TRT World, Is South Sudan's army targeting civilians?
African Defence Review, If We Leave, We Are Killed.

Contact
email@klemryan.net