Keren Yarhi-Milo

Keren Yarhi-Milo
Academic background
Education
Influences
Academic work
DisciplinePolitical science
Institutions

Keren Yarhi-Milo is the Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Relations at Columbia University. She is a former director of Columbia's Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. Her research and teaching focus is on international relations and foreign policy, with a specialization in international security.[1][2]

Biography

Yarhi-Milo graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in political science in 2003,[3][4] and then worked with several NGOs promoting peace in the Middle East.

Yarhi-Milo earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.[5] She completed her post-doc at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a pre-doc fellow at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University.[6][7] She was a student of Robert Jervis. Her dissertation won the Kenneth Waltz Award for the best dissertation in the field of International Security and Arms Control in 2010. She also received awards for the study of political science from the Smith Richardson Foundation, Arthur Ross Foundation, and Abram Morris Foundation.[8]

She began working at Princeton University in 2009 as an assistant professor and then associate professor of Politics and International affairs at the Princeton School of International and Public Affairs before joining Columbia University in 2019.[9][10][11][12]

As Director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, Yarhi-Milo led initiatives through the Columbia Global Centers and the Committee on Forced Migration, to assist displaced Afghani and Ukrainian students and scholars. She was also involved in the Saltzman Student Scholar program, a selective program for undergraduate political science majors.[12][13]

In the Fall of 2021, Yarhi-Milo and Senior Research Scholar Peter Clement helped launch the new Emerging Voices in National Security and Intelligence program at Columbia University. The pilot program was created in “hopes to funnel more women, racial and ethnic minorities, and first-generation Columbia students into the national security and intelligence fields.”[14][15]

In May 2022, Yarhi-Milo was appointed as the next Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. She replaced Interim Dean Thomas Christensen and took office in July 2022.[12][16]

In 2022, Yarhi-Milo won the Emerging Scholar Award from the International Studies Association (ISA), an annual award that recognizes “early- to mid-career scholars who have made an unusually significant contribution to the field of security studies.”[17] She is best known for her scholarship about credibility and reputation, as well as her study of the psychology of leaders. She is also known for coining the theoretical framework "selective attention thesis".[18][19]

In mid-2023, Yarhi-Milo was named the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Relations. The position had last been held by Robert Jervis, a mentor to Yarhi-Milo.[20]

In 2023, Yarhi-Milo co-founded and launched the Institute of Global Politics (IGP) at Columbia SIPA along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.[21][22][23]

Each Fall, Yarhi-Milo co-teaches the course Inside the Situation Room with Secretary Clinton. The course, which is offered to Columbia undergraduates and SIPA students by application, discusses the psychological biases that influence crisis decision-making.[24][25] The theme of the course led to the development of an edited volume, Inside the Situation Room: The Theory and Practice of Crisis Decision-Making, edited by Yarhi-Milo and Secretary Clinton. The volume was published by Oxford University Press on September 15, 2025, and includes contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in the field.[26]

Yarhi-Milo is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).[27][28]

Yarhi-Milo serves on the Executive Committee and President's Cabinet for the Office of the President at Columbia University.[29]

Awards

Her 2014 book, Knowing The Adversary: Leaders, Intelligence Organizations, and Assessments of Intentions in International Relations,[30] received the 2016 Edgar S. Furniss Book Award.[5][18] She was also a co-winner of the 2016 DPLST Book Prize, Diplomatic Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA).[31]

Her 2018 book, Who Fights for Reputation? The Psychology of Leaders in International Conflict[32] earned the Best Book Award on Foreign Policy from the American Political Science Association in 2019 and won the Biennial Best Foreign Policy Book Award from the International Studies Association in 2021.[22]

Written Works

Yarhi-Milo has written and co-authored articles and essays for magazines and newspapers, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, International Organization, and International Security.[33][34][35][36][37] She is also on the editorial advisory board of Political Science Quarterly (PSQ).[38]

Yarhi-Milo has also published three books.

  • 2014 — Knowing The Adversary: Leaders, Intelligence Organizations, and Assessments of Intentions in International Relations[39]
  • 2018 — Who Fights for Reputation? The Psychology of Leaders in International Conflict[40]
  • 2025 — Inside the Situation Room: The Theory and Practice of Crisis Decision-Making[41]

References

  1. ^"Keren Yarhi-Milo | Columbia SIPA". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  2. ^Schermele, Zachary. "Keren Yarhi-Milo named new dean of School of International and Public Affairs - Columbia Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  3. ^"Keren Yarhi-Milo". Columbia College Today. January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  4. ^"Yarhi-Milo's 'Knowing the Adversary' Wins Furniss Book Award | Mershon Center for International Security Studies". mershoncenter.osu.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  5. ^ ab"Keren Yarhi-Milo | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. August 2, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  6. ^"Experts | The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs". www.belfercenter.org. March 22, 2025. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  7. ^"Yarhi-Milo's 'Knowing the Adversary' Wins Furniss Book Award | Mershon Center for International Security Studies". mershoncenter.osu.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  8. ^"Yarhi-Milo's 'Knowing the Adversary' Wins Furniss Book Award | Mershon Center for International Security Studies". mershoncenter.osu.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  9. ^"SIPA Magazine by Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs - Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  10. ^"Saltzman Institute Welcomes Keren Yarhi-Milo as New Director | Columbia SIPA". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  11. ^"Yarhi-Milo's 'Knowing the Adversary' Wins Furniss Book Award | Mershon Center for International Security Studies". mershoncenter.osu.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  12. ^ abcSlovin, Charlotte (May 24, 2022). "Professor Keren Yarhi-Milo Appointed As Next Dean Of SIPA". Bwog. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  13. ^"Meet Columbia's Five New Deans | Columbia Magazine". magazine.columbia.edu. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  14. ^Liang, Justin. "SIPA launches program to diversify pipeline into national security, intelligence fields". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  15. ^"Emerging Voices in National Security and Intelligence – SIWPS". www.siwps.org. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  16. ^"The Right Moment | Columbia SIPA". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  17. ^"ISSS Emerging Scholar Award | International Studies Association SIPA".
  18. ^ ab"Yarhi-Milo's 'Knowing the Adversary' Wins Furniss Book Award | Mershon Center". mershoncenter.osu.edu. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  19. ^Yarhi-Milo, Keren (July 1, 2013). "In the Eye of the Beholder: How Leaders and Intelligence Communities Assess the Intentions of Adversaries". International Security. 38 (1): 7–51. doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00128. ISSN 0162-2889.
  20. ^"The Right Moment | Columbia SIPA". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  21. ^"CAMPUS NEWS: Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo shares direction for Columbia SIPA's new Institute of Global Politics". The Morningside Post. October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  22. ^ ab"Keren Yarhi-Milo". Porchlight Book Company. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  23. ^"Dr. Keren Yarhi-Milo". Bliss Summit. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  24. ^Ali, Ayaan. "SIPA to offer new fall course Inside the Situation Room with Hillary Clinton and SIPA dean". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  25. ^"Professor Hillary Clinton Goes Back to School (Published 2023)". September 7, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  26. ^"Inside the Situation Room Book Launch Examines Crisis Decision-Making | Institute of Global Politics | SIPA". igp.sipa.columbia.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  27. ^"Dr. Keren Yarhi-Milo". Bliss Summit. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  28. ^"Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo, and Ambassador John Sullivan on 'Inside the Situation Room' | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  29. ^"University Leadership | Office of the President". president.columbia.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  30. ^"Yarhi-Milo, Keren | Princeton University Press". press.princeton.edu. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  31. ^"DPLST Book Award". www.isanet.org. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  32. ^"Yarhi-Milo, Keren | Princeton University Press". press.princeton.edu. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  33. ^Yarhi-Milo, Keren; Naftali, Tim (October 13, 2023). "Keren Yarhi-Milo, The Atlantic". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  34. ^"Keren Yarhi-Milo - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  35. ^"Keren Yarhi-Milo | Foreign Affairs". www.foreignaffairs.com. January 13, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  36. ^"Keren Yarhi-Milo". Porchlight Book Company. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  37. ^"Keren Yarhi-Milo | Semantic Scholar". www.semanticscholar.org. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  38. ^"Political Science Quarterly". www.psqonline.org. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  39. ^"Yarhi-Milo, Keren | Princeton University Press". press.princeton.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  40. ^"Yarhi-Milo, Keren | Princeton University Press". press.princeton.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  41. ^"Inside the Situation Room". global.oup.com. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
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