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Monica Duffy Toft

Monica Duffy Toft

Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Monica Duffy Toft is the Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a professor of International Politics.

Before joining The Fletcher School, Professor Monica Duffy Toft taught at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. While at Harvard, she directed the Initiative on Religion in International Affairs and was the assistant director of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies. She was educated at the University of Chicago (MA and PhD in political science) and at the University of California, Santa Barbara (BA in political science and Slavic languages and literature, summa cum laude). Prior to this, she spent four years in the United States Army as a Russian linguist. Monica’s areas of research include international security, ethnic and religious violence, civil wars and demography. Her most recent books include: Securing the Peace (Princeton, 2011); Political Demography (Oxford, 2012); and God’s Century (Norton, 2012). In addition she has published numerous scholarly articles and editorials on civil wars, territory and nationalism, demography, and religion in global politics.

Toft is a research associate of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford and at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She is a supernumerary fellow at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, a Global Scholar of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Minorities at Risk Advisory Board and the Political Instability Task Force. In 2008 the Carnegie Foundation of New York named her a Carnegie Scholar for her research on religion and violence, in 2012 she was named a Fulbright scholar, and most recently served as the World Politics Fellow at Princeton University.

US secretary of state has an expansive job that could make or break peace deals and key foreign alliances

Jan 14, 2025 05:20 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Donald Trumps nominee for secretary of state, will testify before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee as part of his confirmation process on Jan. 15, 2025. Rubios nomination is...

Israelis and Palestinians warring over a homeland is far from unique

Dec 13, 2023 13:46 pm UTC|

The ongoing horrors unfolding in Israel and Gaza have deep-rooted origins that stem from a complex and contested question: Who has rights to the same territory? I am a scholar of international affairs, as well as...

Global Geopolitics Series

US will give military tanks to Ukraine, signaling Western powers' long-term commitment to thwarting Russia

Jan 26, 2023 12:04 pm UTC| Politics

President Joe Biden announced on Jan. 25, 2023, that the U.S. would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys repeated requests for more military tanks to help wage its war...

The US isn't at war with Russia, technically – but its support for Ukraine offers a classic case of a proxy war

Oct 21, 2022 06:13 am UTC| Insights & Views

The United States and European countries continue to pledge their support to Ukraine as Russias invasion drags on into its ninth month and have backed their alliance with recurrent deliveries of advanced weaponry and...

America now solves problems with troops, not diplomats

Oct 04, 2019 14:42 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Is America a bully? As a scholar, under the auspices of the Military Intervention Project, I have been studying every episode of U.S. military intervention from 1776 to 2017. Historically, the U.S. advanced from a...

Identicide: How demographic shifts can rip a country apart

Apr 27, 2019 06:20 am UTC| Insights & Views

What happens to a country when its core national identity its preferred image of itself in terms of race or religion doesnt match its demographic reality? Say a Sunni-dominated Arab country is actually a majority Shia...

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Economy

Japan, U.S. to Leave Forex Policy to Finance Ministers, Says PM Ishiba

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba confirmed that Japan and the U.S. will delegate foreign exchange-rate matters to their finance ministers, aligning with the policy from U.S. President Donald Trumps first term....

Gold Prices Near Record Highs as Safe-Haven Demand Rises

Gold prices climbed in Asian trade on Friday, nearing record highs as investors sought safe-haven assets amid economic uncertainty. The metal is poised for strong weekly gains, driven by renewed U.S.-China trade tensions...

China's Tariffs on U.S. Oil and LNG Could Disrupt Trade, Prompt Waiver Requests

Chinas planned tariffs on U.S. crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), set to take effect on February 10, are expected to prompt traders to seek waivers, trade sources said. Beijing announced a 15% levy on U.S. LNG and...

Yen Hits Nine-Week High as Rate Hike Bets Rise; Dollar Awaits U.S. Jobs Data

The Japanese yen surged to a nine-week high as investors bet on further interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan (BOJ), while the U.S. dollar held steady ahead of key payroll data. The dollar slid 0.25% to 151.09 yen,...

Domino’s Australia Stock Soars 24% After Announcing Store Closures and Profitability Boost

Shares of Dominos Pizza Enterprises (NYSE: DPZ) surged 23.8% to A$36.68 on Friday, marking their largest intraday gain ever. The rally follows the companys announcement to close 205 underperforming stores, aiming to...

Politics

China-Linked WeChat Accounts Target Chrystia Freeland in Canadian Election Interference

A Canadian task force reported that malicious news articles originating from Chinese social media attempted to discredit former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, a candidate to succeed Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party...

Trump Delays De Minimis Repeal, E-Commerce Disruptions Continue

U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily halted his administrations repeal of duty-free treatment for low-cost packages from China, allowing the Commerce Department time to refine the order. The abrupt change disrupted...

22 States Urge Court to Enforce Block on Trump Administration’s Funding Freeze

Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and Washington, D.C., have asked a federal judge to enforce his order blocking the Trump administration from freezing billions in federal grants and loans. Their emergency motion...

Elon Musk Discusses Government Restructuring at JPMorgan Event

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, tasked by President Donald Trump with overhauling the federal government, spoke at a private JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) conference in Miami. The event, hosted by JPMorgans asset and wealth management...

New York AG Sues Trump Administration Over Alleged Data Access to Musk and DOGE

New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with 18 state attorneys general, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging a policy that allegedly grants Elon Musk and the Department of Government...

Science

South African telescope discovers a giant galaxy that’s 32 times bigger than Earth’s

Inkathazos glowing plasma jets are shown in red and yellow. The starlight from other surrounding galaxies can be seen in the background. K.K.L Charlton (UCT), MeerKAT, HSC, CARTA, IDIA, CC BY You may not know it, but right...

It’s science, not fiction: high-tech drones may soon be fighting bushfires in Australia

Picture this. Its a summer evening in Australia. A dry lightning storm is about to sweep across remote, tinder-dry bushland. The next day is forecast to be hot and windy. A lightning strike tonight could spark a fire that...

Earth is bombarded with rocks from space – but who gets to keep these ultimate antiques?

Every day, about 48.5 tonnes of space rock hurtle towards Earth. Meteorites that fall into the ocean are never recovered. But the ones that crash on land can spark debates about legal ownership. Globally, meteorite hunting...

Most of us trust scientists, shows a survey of nearly 72,000 people worldwide

Public trust in scientists is vital. It can help us with personal decisions on matters like health and provide evidence-based policymaking to assist governments with crises such as the COVID pandemic or climate change. In...

Astronauts on NASA’s Artemis mission to the Moon will need better boots − here’s why

The U.S.s return to the Moon with NASAs Artemis program will not be a mere stroll in the park. Instead it will be a perilous journey to a lunar location representing one of the most extreme environments in the solar...

Technology

BYD Stock Near Record High as It Teases Autonomous Vehicle Plans

BYD shares surged Friday, nearing record highs, after the Chinese EV giant announced plans to unveil its autonomous driving strategy. The companys Hong Kong-listed stock (HK:1211) jumped 4.8% to HK$332.40, while its...

Trump Assigns VP Vance, Adviser Waltz to Oversee Possible TikTok Sale

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has appointed Vice President JD Vance and national security adviser Michael Waltz to lead discussions on a potential sale of TikTok, according to a report by Punchbowl News. The move...

Xiaomi Hits Record High as China’s Subsidy Program Boosts EV and Tech Stocks

Xiaomi Corp (OTC: XIACF, HK: 1810) shares surged to an all-time high on Friday, fueled by investor optimism over Chinas nationwide subsidy program aimed at boosting sales of electric vehicles (EVs) and smartphones. The...

OpenAI’s Stargate AI Data Centers Face Global AI Competition from China’s DeepSeek

OpenAI is actively evaluating U.S. states for its massive Stargate AI data center initiative, aiming to secure Americas lead in artificial intelligence against China. Chris Lehane, OpenAIs chief global affairs officer,...

Tesla Raises Model X Prices by $5,000 in the U.S.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has increased the prices of its Model X vehicles in the United States by $5,000, according to an update on its official website. The price hike applies to both variants of the electric SUV, reflecting...
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