Keren Yarhi-Milo
Keren Yarhi-Milo is the Dean of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science. Her research examines international relations and foreign policy decision-making, with particular emphasis on security, interstate communication and crisis bargaining, intelligence, and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. In 2023, she cofounded the Institute of Global Politics at Columbia SIPA alongside Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton to advance policy-relevant research and convene leaders across sectors on pressing global challenges.
Yarhi-Milo has written three award-winning books: Inside the Situation Room: The Theory and Practice of Crisis Decision-Making co-edited with Hillary Rodham Clinton (Oxford University Press, 2025), Who Fights for Reputation? The Psychology of Leaders in International Conflict (Princeton University Press, 2018), and Knowing the Adversary: Leaders, Intelligence Organizations, and Assessments of Intentions in International Relations” (Princeton University Press, 2014).
Her books have received multiple awards for her books, including the 2021 International Studies Association Biennial Best Foreign Policy Book Award and the 2019 American Political Science Association Foreign Policy Section Best Book Award for “Who Fights for Reputation?” She also received the 2016 Edgar S. Furniss Book Award in International Security and the 2016 DPLST Book Award in Diplomatic Studies for “Knowing the Adversary.” Her writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, and she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Yarhi-Milo received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science from Columbia University. She completed predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University.