For Immediate Release
DATE: February 5, 2016
CONTACT: Jane Riley Jacobsen, (202)378-9700 jane@ned.org
Christopher Walker is New Vice President for Studies and Analysis at National Endowment for Democracy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Christopher Walker has been named the new Vice President for Studies and Analysis at the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED). In his new position, Walker joins the leadership team at NED and continues to oversee the activities of NED’s International Forum for Democratic Studies, a leading center for the analysis and discussion of democratic development, where Walker was most recently executive director. Walker’s predecessor as Vice President, Marc F. Plattner, will remain at NED on a part-time basis. Plattner, who joined NED in 1984, continues to serve as co-editor of the Journal of Democracy.
“The NED is extremely fortunate to have Chris Walker as its new Vice President for Studies and Analysis,” said NED President Carl Gershman. “He brings to the position broad knowledge of democratic theory and practice, a deep understanding of the great problems facing democracy today, and an ability to promote collaboration and deeper linkages between analysts of democracy and activists who are on the front lines of efforts to defend democratic values and processes. We’re also delighted that Marc Plattner will be staying on as the editor of the Journal of Democracy, which he – together with Larry Diamond – has built into the world’s foremost publication in the field of democracy studies.
The International Forum pursues it goals through several interrelated initiatives: publishing the Journal of Democracy, the world’s leading publication on the theory and practice of democracy; hosting fellowship programs for international democracy activists, journalists, and scholars; coordinating the Network of Democracy Research Institutes, a global think tank network; and organizing a diverse range of analytical initiatives to explore critical themes relating to democratic development.
Prior to joining the NED, Walker was Vice President for Strategy and Analysis at Freedom House, where he was responsible for devising overall strategy for Freedom House’s analytical projects on democratic development and media freedom. Prior to Freedom House, he was a senior associate at the EastWest Institute, and program manager at the European Journalism Network. Walker has also served as an Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at New York University. He holds a B.A. degree from Binghamton University and an M.A. from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy.com, Barron’s, The Far Eastern Economic Review, European Voice, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, The Moscow Times, Politico.com, Journal of Democracy, and World Affairs. He is co-editor with Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner of Authoritarianism Goes Global: The Challenge to Democracy (Johns Hopkins University Press, March 2016).
