Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Associate Professor of Justice and Rule of Law
Dr. Catherine Lena Kelly is Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Justice and Rule of Law at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Her work focuses on party politics and democratization, rule of law and security sector governance, and transnational organized crime. She is faculty lead for the rule of law and security sector governance portfolio, as well as the countering transnational organized crime portfolio.
Previously, Dr. Kelly was an Advisor in the Research, Evaluation, and Learning Division at the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, where her work on judicial training and grassroots legal empowerment took her to Burundi, CAR, DRC, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Republic of Congo, and Rwanda to work with a range of national and local judicial officials, paralegals, and civil society. Fluent in French, Dr. Kelly has also designed and taught courses on contemporary Africa as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, and on West Africa and Area Studies at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. Dr. Kelly has earned fellowships from Fulbright, American Council of Learned Societies, West Africa Research Association, Harvard University, and the U.S. government’s Foreign Language and Area Studies program for the Wolof language. Her book, Party Proliferation and Political Contestation in Africa: Senegal in Comparative Perspective (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), is based on 18 months of research in Senegal. Her work has been published in African Security, Journal of Democracy, Comparative Politics, The Washington Post, Democracy in Africa, numerous edited volumes, and American Bar Association white papers.
Dr. Kelly holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in government from Harvard University, a Graduate Certificate in international politics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and a B.A. summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member.
Areas of Expertise
Rule of Law, Democratization and Governance, Stabilization of Fragile States, Preventing Violent Extremism, Program Design, Monitoring and Evaluation, West and Central Africa, Transnational Organized Crime
Article
Sénégal : ces dossiers sur la table du nouveau président
The Conversation, March 28, 2024
Spotlight
Making Sense of Senegal’s Constitutional Crisis
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, February 7, 2024
Article
Trends in Organized Crime, August 15, 2023
Article
Illegal Logging in Africa is a Threat to Security
The Conversation, April 19, 2023
Feature
The Impact of the Rule of Law on National Security in African Countries
Judicature International, March, 2023
Article
Senegal Pulled Off Another Peaceful Poll. Why This Time the Results Herald a Big Political Shift
The Conversation, August 17, 2022
Spotlight
Illegal Logging in Africa and Its Security Implications
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, August 12, 2022
Article
Questions of Justice, Governance, and Rule of Law Surround the Local Elections in Senegal
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, April 15, 2022
Article
Comparative Perspectives on Linkages between Violent Extremism and Organized Crime in Africa
African Security, March, 2022
Spotlight
Deluge of Digital Repression Threatens African Security
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, January 4, 2022
Spotlight
Justice and Rule of Law Key to African Security
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, May 25, 2021
Article
The Many Faces of Rule of Law and Security in Africa
South Central Review, Summer/Fall 2020
Book Chapter
Legal and Political Responses to Terrorism: Comparing Democracies and Hybrid Regimes
Law, Security, and the State of Perpetual Emergency, June 2020
Book Review
Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics
African Studies Review, March 16, 2021
Paper
Rule of Law for Conflict, Security, and Stabilization Programming: Some Key Issues for Consideration
American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, 2019
Book
Party Proliferation and Political Contestation in Africa: Senegal in Comparative Perspective
2020
Blog Post
Why Are There So Many Parties in Senegal?
Democracy in Africa, August 23, 2019
Blog Post
How Can the U.N. Can Restore Rule of Law in Central African Republic? Five Things You Need to Know
The Washington Post Monkey Cage blog, April 3, 2018
Book Chapter
“Senegal’s Leadership through Soft Power from Senghor to Sall” in African Foreign Policies in International Institutions,” Jason Warner and Timothy Shaw, eds.
2018
Article
Party Proliferation and Trajectories of Opposition in Africa
Comparative Politics, Volume 50, 2018
Blog Post
American Evaluation Association 365, March 30, 2017
Bericht
Justice and Security Diagnostic: Bangui, Central African Republic
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, November 2017
Paper
Rule of Law Approaches to Countering Violent Extremism
American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, May 2017
Bericht
ILAC Rapport d’évaluation de l’état de droit: République centrafricaine 2017
International Legal Assistance Consortium, 2017
Article
Sufi Turuq and the Politics of Democratization in Senegal
Journal of Religious and Political Practice, Volume 2, 2016
Blog Post
Here’s What You Need to Know about Senegal’s Recent Referendum
The Washington Post Monkey Cage blog, April 3, 2016
Evaluation
American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, November 30, 2015
Article
The 2012 Legislative Elections in Senegal
Electoral Studies, Volume 32, 2013
Blog Post
Why the U.S. Military Should Care About African Opposition Parties
Africa in Transition, Council on Foreign Relations, March 27, 2013
Article
Senegal: What Will Turnover Bring?
Journal of Democracy, Volume 23, July 2012
Blog Post
Did the June 23 Movement Change Senegal?
African Futures, Social Science Research Council, July 12, 2012
Article
Cahiers du Réseau multidisciplinaire d’études stratégiques, winter 2006
Rule of Law and Security Sector Governance
État de droit et gouvernance de la sécurité
Estado de Direito e Governação da SegurançaAfrica Center for Strategic Studies, June 2023
Transnational Organized Crime: Impacts in Africa
La criminalité transfrontalière organisée et ses impacts en Afrique
Crime Organizado Transnacional: Efeitos na AfricaAfrica Center for Strategic Studies, June 2023
An Underappreciated Tool? The Role of Traditional Justice Institutions in Peacebuilding in Africa
Wilson Center, March 2022
Why Does Rule of Law Matter for Security Sector Effectiveness in Africa?
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, December 2021
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, February 2021
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, December 2020
Transnational Organized Crime: Identifying Criminal Actors and Markets
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, December 2020
Countering Transnational Organized Crime as a Peacebuilding Strategy in East Africa
Wilson Center Africa Program, June 2020
Citizen and Community Security
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, September 2019
Rule of Law and Conflict Trends in Africa
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, September 2019
Civil War in the Central African Republic
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, September 2018
Senegal’s President Says He Won’t Run Again. Democracy Advocates Applaud.
Washington Post, July 3, 2023
Understanding Senegal’s Protests [15:00–22:45]
BBC Newsday, June 5, 2023
Senegal Deploys Military and Blocks Social Media After Deadly Clashes
New York Times, June 2, 2023
Into Africa podcast, October 17, 2019
“Democracy and Security in Africa: Author Interview with Dr. Catherine Lena Kelly”
October 8, 2019
Voice of America (VOA) Africa, July 15, 2019