Frances Z. Brown

Dr. Frances Z. Brown is a vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she focuses on U.S foreign policy, democracy, conflict, Africa, and the Middle East. At the vice-presidential level, she oversees the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program; the American Statecraft program; and Carnegie California.  

Brown served on the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff over the past three presidential administrations. Before re-joining Carnegie in February 2025, she served as special assistant to the president and senior director for Africa on the Biden NSC. Previously, from 2016-17, she served as director for democracy and fragile states on the NSC under the Obama and first Trump administrations.  Prior to the NSC, Brown worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives, managing political transition programs in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

Other experience includes roles in the private sector, in non-profits, and at the Defense Department. Previous research roles include fellowships with the Council on Foreign Relations, Columbia University, and the U.S. Institute of Peace.   She has published in the American Interest, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the International Herald Tribune, and elsewhere. A security fellow with the Truman National Security Project, she holds a PhD from Oxford in international relations, an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and a BA from Yale.

Sub-specialties: Afghanistan; Afghan governance; National Security Council; US Foreign Policymaking; White House processes; U.S. Government Interagency Processes; Counterinsurgency; Civilians in War Zones; US Agency for International Development; U.S. support to democracy; U.S. support to international development; State-building; Stabilization; Iraq stabilization; Syria stabilization; democratic institution-building; Sustainable Development Goal 16; Trump Administration National Security Council; Obama Administration National Security Council; Subnational Governance; Fragile States; Lebanon