Ian Johnstone

Ian Johnstone is a Professor of International Law at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He has been a faculty member since 2000. From 2018 to 2019, he served as Interim Dean. Prior to that from 2013 to 2015, he was the Academic Dean. Before joining Fletcher in 2000, he served in the United Nations’ Executive Office of the Secretary-General. He continues to serve as a regular consultant to the United Nations. His most recent books include "Building an International Cybersecurity Regime: Multistakeholder Diplomacy" (Co-editor, Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming 2023); "Talking International Law: Legal Argumentation Outside the Courtroom" (Co-editor, Oxford University Press, 2021); "The Oxford Handbook on International Organizations," (Co-editor, Oxford University Press, 2016); "Law and Practice of the United Nations, 2nd edition," (co-author, Oxford University Press, 2016); and "The Power of Deliberation: International Law, Politics and Organizations," (Oxford University Press, 2011). Selected articles and book chapters include “Global Governance in an Era of Pluralism”, co-author with Joshua Lincoln, Global Policy Journal, Vol. 13:4 (2022); “Empowering One Health Peacemakers”, co-authored with Diana Chigas, Deborah Kochevar and Elizabeth McClintock, Journal of Transnational Peace Praxis, Vol. 4:2 (2022); “Deliberation”, chapter in Jan Klabbers ed, Cambridge Companion to International Organizations Law (Cambridge University Press, 2022); “International Legal Argumentation: Practice in Need of a Theory”, co-author with Steven Ratner, in Ian Johnstone and Steven Ratner eds, Talking International Law: Legal Argumentation Beyond the Courtroom (Oxford University Press, 2021); “Toward a Theory of Legal Argumentation”, co-author with Steven Ratner in Ian Johnstone and Steven Ratner eds, Talking International Law: Legal Argumentation Beyond the Courtroom (Oxford University Press, 2021; “Nuclear non-proliferation law: why argue and to what effect?”, chapter in Ian Johnstone and Steven Ratner eds, Talking International Law: Legal Argumentation Beyond the Courtroom (Oxford University Press, 2021); “Status as a reward in international law”, 115 American Journal of International Law Unbound (2021);. “Louis Sohn’s Legacy,” 31 European Journal of International Law (2020). “The evolution of the United Nations Charter” in Simon Chesterman et al eds., "The Oxford Handbook of UN Treaties," (Oxford University Press, 2018); “The UN Security Council and International Law” in Sebastian von Einsiedel et al eds., "The United Nations Security Council in the 21st Century," (2016); “Law-making by International Organizations: Perspectives from International Law/International Relations Theory”, in Jeff Dunoff and Mark Pollack eds "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Law and International Relations: The State of the Art," (2013); and “Legislation and adjudication in the UN Security Council: bringing down the deliberative deficit,” American Journal of International Law (2008). From 2005-2007, he was the lead author and founding editor of the Annual Review of Global Peace Operations. He is currently on the editorial boards of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law and International Organizations Law Review. He has been a Visiting Professor at the New York University School of Law, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and Jindal Global University, India. He is a Member of the International Advisory Board of the International Peace Institute, New York. Johnstone, recipient of the James L. Paddock Teaching Award in 2005, teaches courses in international organizations and peace operations. A citizen of Canada, he holds an LL.M degree from Columbia University and JD and B.A. degrees from the University of Toronto.

Research/Areas of Interest:

• International Organizations
• United Nations
• Peace Operations
• Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
• International Law and International Relations Theory

Education

• LLM, Columbia University, New York, United States, 1990
• JD, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 1987
• BA, International Relations, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 1983

Tufts University Appointments

• Professor Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1 Sep 2009 - present
• Dean ad interim Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1 Aug 2018 - 1 Oct 2019
• Academic Dean Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1 Jul 2013 - 31 Jul 2015
• Associate Professor Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1 Sep 2004 - 31 Aug 2009
• Assistant Professor Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1 Sep 2000 - 31 Aug 2004

Non-academic Positions

• First Officer
  United Nations, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, New York, United States Mar 1996 - Jul 2000
• Political Affairs Officer
  United Nations, Department of Peacekeeping Operations,, New York, United States Jun 1996 - Mar 1997
• Second Officer
  United Nations, Executive Office of the Secretary-General,, New York, United States Aug 1994 - Jun 1996
• Occasional consultant to Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Political Affairs
  United Nations, New York, United States Jan 2008 - Jul 2014
• Senior Research Associate
  International Peace Academy, New York, United States Jun 1992 - Aug 1994
• Associate Legal Officer
  United Nations, Office of the Legal Counsel,, New York, United States Jun 1991 - Jun 1992
• Warren Weaver Fellow, International Security Program
  Rockefeller Foundation, New York, United States Jun 1990 - Jun 1991
• Judicial Clerk (to Chief Justice and five other Justices)
  Ontario Court of Appeals, Ontario, Canada Jul 1987 - Jul 1988