Mr. Roberto M. Perito

Special Advisor, Rule of Law Program, United States Institute of Peace

A former senior fellow at the Institute, Robert M. Perito joined the Professional Training Program at the United States Institute of Peace in 2004 after working as a special advisor to the Rule of Law Program. Before joining the Institute, he served as deputy director of the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that role he was responsible for providing policy guidance and program direction for peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, East Timor, and Kosovo and in post-conflict environments in Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia.
Perito earlier served for more than 25 years as a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State, retiring with the rank of minister-counselor. His career included service as deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council (1988–89). He received a Presidential Meritorious Service Award in 1990 for his leadership of the U.S. delegation to the Angola peace talks. Before joining the Foreign Service, Perito served as a rural development officer with the Peace Corps in Nigeria. He holds an M.A. in peace operations policy from George Mason University and holds faculty appointments at American and George Mason Universities. He is the author of The American Experience with Police in Peace Operations and Where Is the Lone Ranger When We Need Him? America's Search for a Postconflict Stability Force.