Jonathan Pinckney

Dr. Jonathan Pinckney is a senior researcher for USIP’s Program on Nonviolent Action.

He joined USIP after two years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, where he supervised the Anatomy of Resistance Campaigns Project. Prior to that, he worked as a research fellow at the Sie Cheou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, where he supervised the Social Conflict Analysis Database and the Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes Data Project, version 3.0.

Dr. Pinckney is a well-known expert on nonviolent action, focusing on the intersection between nonviolent movements, democratization, and peace processes and the use of statistical analysis and big data to better understand nonviolent mobilization. He speaks frequently on the origins, dynamics, and consequences of nonviolent action and has taught undergraduate courses on civil resistance and international relations.

Dr. Pinckney received both a master’s and doctorate from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies and a bachelor’s from Gordon College. He is the author of “From Dissent to Democracy: The Promise and Perils of Civil Resistance Transitions,” published by Oxford University Press, as well as numerous articles in major media outlets such as Foreign Policy and The Washington Post and top-ranking academic journals such as International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, and Conflict Management and Peace Science.