Matt Herbert

I'm the Head of Research for North Africa and the Sahel at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, where I oversee teams conducting applied field research and assessments on the political economy of organized crime in the two regions. I also co-lead an initiative studying the use of sanctions against transnational organized crime and corruption, as well as another on research ethics. I specialize in transnational organized crime, its impacts on fragility and stabilization, approaches to countering it via targeted sanctions, and approaches to building resilience to it via security sector reform and state-community engagement.

I’m an experienced field manager, with expertise in building and leading teams in difficult to access or politically sensitive environments. I have coordinated complex and multinational field research systems, including analytic oversight, staff mentoring, and development of research ethics protocols. I also have substantial experience in conflict and security force capacity assessments, program conceptualization and design, and the development and facilitation of trainings, simulations, and multi-stakeholder workshops. Over the last twenty years, I have lived and worked in fragile, post-conflict, or transitional states throughout North Africa, the Sahel, Horn of Africa, and Latin America.

I hold a PhD in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University, with a sub-specialization in security studies and law & development. My doctoral research analyzed how and why cross-border smuggling systems in Meso-America and North Africa that had been peaceful transformed into ones marked by violence and conflict. My current research projects delve into the use of sanctions and restrictive measures against illicit economic actors, smuggler-terrorist engagements, criminal innovation diffusion, and the intersection of organized crime and state fragility.

From 2017 to 2019, I was a Partner and Director at Maharbal, a consultancy that provided analysis, advising, and solutions to complex challenges. While there, I provided strategy and situational advising to NGOs and governments, conducted staff training for an international donor organization, designed and led a cross-regional study on the dynamics of North African irregular migration, and contributed to a project on decentralization, dignity, and youth political participation at the municipal level in Tunisia.

Prior to Maharbal, I served as a Senior Program Officer with the Strategic Capacity Group, where I designed and implemented analysis and capacity building programs in North Africa and the Sahel around security force training and academy strengthening, security force-community engagement, and border security. I have also consulted on development and crime issues in North Africa and the Horn of Africa for STATT Consulting and as an independent consultant, managed the transborder threats portfolio for the state of New Mexico, and served as a policy aide to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. I have additional programmatic and assessment experience in Mozambique, Nicaragua, Haiti, Brazil, Mongolia, and the Philippines.

I have been quoted on security, migration, and organized crime issues by The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Economist, The Times, Foreign Policy, The Telegraph, Financial Times, El Pais, Jeune Afrique, Le Monde, Agence Presse France, Associated Press, Vice News, and African Arguments.

I present regularly on transnational organized crime, border security, community-security force relations, and security sector reform to governmental, NGO and professional audiences.

Information on my articles and assessments can be found in the pages on Focus Areas and Publications.