Thomas J. Biersteker (b. 1950) is the Curt Gasteyger Professor of International Security at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland, where he is also a member of the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding. Previously, he was Director of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University from 1994 to 2006; the Henry R. Luce Professor of Transnational Organizations in the Department of Political Science at Brown Universit, from 1992-2006; professor at the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California from 1985–1992, where he was founder and Director of the Center for International Studies; and was an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Yale University, where he taught from 1976-1985. Biersteker's research interests focus on governance, the history of international relations, international political economy, sanctions, international organizations, diplomacy, peacekeeping, state-building and terrorism.