George A. Lopez

Who is George A. Lopez?

George A. Lopez is a founding faculty of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame where he holds the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. Chair in Peace Studies. Lopez researches state violence and coercion, especially economic sanctions, human rights, ethics and the use of force.

From 1988 through 1998, he chaired the Selection Committee of the Research and Writing Grants Committee of the MacArthur Foundation's Program in Peace and International Cooperation.

Lopez's investigation of UN sanctions on Iraq began in 1993 when he was asked to assist the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs to develop methodologies for assessing sanctions impact. With David Cortright and Alistair Millar, Lopez wrote Winning Without War: Sensible Security Options for Dealing with Iraq in October 2002. The policy brief presented an alternative to the invasion of Iraq. Lopez and Cortight's research detailing the unlikely presence of WMDs in Iraq was detailed before the war in Disarming Iraq in Arms Control Today and re-articulated after the war in Containing Iraq: the Sanctions Worked in Foreign Affairs.