Michael Sullivan Adjunct Professorial Lecturer Department of Justice, Law & Criminology
- Additional Positions at AU
- Adjunct Professorial Lecturer Department of Justice, Law & Criminology
- Degrees
- - MA, Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy
- JD, Northeastern University School of Law
- BA, Providence College - Bio
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Michael Sullivan is an attorney and international relations professional with extensive experience working in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Vietnam, and Thailand. As an academic, Sullivan specializes in the study of War Crimes Documentation and historical atrocities. His research, initiated during his residency in Ukraine, focuses on the events of the 1919 pogroms in Ukraine and Poland.
Since 2022, Sullivan has been actively engaged in his current role with the ABA ROLI (American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative). His responsibilities include directing a program that provides technical support for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) initiatives and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) training to international Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) in the Greater Mekong region.
From 2014 to 2021, he was seconded by the U.S. Department of State to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. During these seven years, Sullivan held several leadership roles in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, and Lviv. Notably, as Team Leader in Kramatorsk, he oversaw more than 150 staff members monitoring ceasefire violations and coordinating with the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC). His team played a key role in high-profile efforts, establishing patrol bases in government-controlled areas like Svitlodarsk and non-government-controlled areas such as Horlivka. Under his leadership, collaboration with the JCCC was crucial in implementing the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum provisions.
From 2010-2013 he served in Kandahar, Afghanistan, with the U.S. Department of State. He initially founded and directed the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Program's U.S. Rule of Law program and subsequently served as Director of the Rule of Law program for Regional Command South.
Before his overseas assignment in Kandahar, Sullivan worked with the State Department’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program as an international law lecturer, working with foreign delegations, including foreign military intelligence, defense policymakers, and force planners, focusing on applying humanitarian law and human rights instruments in times of crisis.
As a Senior Program Manager with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Sullivan worked in Baghdad, Iraq, assisting the Iraqi Constitutional Drafting Committee with drafting language for the new Constitution. Following his work on the Iraq Constitution, he managed NDI's Executive Program in Baghdad. Sullivan also served as a human rights reporter for Nobel Peace Prize-winning Physicians for Human Rights in Kosovo during the Racak Massacre. Before that, he worked as a relief worker in refugee camps in Bosnia Herzegovina during the Bosnian War.
In addition to his fieldwork, Sullivan co-edited two legal volumes for the American Bar Association: the 'International Human Rights Law Sourcebook and the 'International Humanitarian Law (Law of Armed Conflict) Sourcebook.
- For the Media
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Teaching
Spring 2024
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JLC-496 Selected Topics:Non-Recurring: Confronting Atrocities
Fall 2024
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JLC-496 Selected Topics:Non-Recurring: Confronting Atrocities
Partnerships & Affiliations
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Truman National Security Project
Defense Council
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
Providence College National Alumni Award -- June 2013
Expeditionary Award -- US Department of State -- May 2013
NATO Non-Article 5 Medal -- Issued by Secretary General -- May 2013
Superior Honor Award -- US Department of State -- May 2013
Meritorious Honor Award -- US Department of State -- June 2012
Franklin Honor Award -- US Department of State -- May 2011
Salzburg Seminar Fellowship Award -- June 2003
Selected Publications
The International Human Rights Law Sourcebook, American Bar Association (2014)
The International Humanitarian Law (Law of Armed Conflict) Sourcebook, American Bar Association (2014)