"Negotiating Ceasefires and Sanctions in Sudan and South Sudan"

ABOUT

Julian Simcock is the lead lawyer to the Office of the Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan.

In that capacity, he serves as a member of the U.S. delegation to the South Sudan peace process. He also participates in sanctions negotiations with the Government of Sudan and in ceasefire talks with the Darfuri rebel movement.

Prior to assuming his current position, he served on a delegation to Cuba as part of the United States’ normalization negotiations and worked on arbitration matters regarding Iran. He was also the Executive Director of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on International Law.

He is a graduate of Babson College, the Harvard Kennedy School, and Stanford Law School. Before law school, he worked at Goldman Sachs and studied in South Africa as a Fulbright Scholar.

He teaches a night class at Georgetown Law on diplomatic and sovereign immunities.

SUMMARY

Julian Simcock (MPA '13), lead lawyer to the U.S. Office of the Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan at the State Department discussed the difficult process toward a cessation of hostilities between the two countries in an off-the-record talk with students and fellows on March 21. He reflected on the challenges of conflict mediation, the gratifying environment of working within a multilateral negotiation format toward achieving long-term, sustainable progress and the evolution of this own thinking on functional negotiation strategies, from his days as a Kennedy School student, through his work on the U.S. opening to Cuba and now in his current role with the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan.