Back to top

Photograph of Michael Sullivan

Michael Sullivan Adjunct Professorial Lecturer 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
Michael Sullivan is an attorney and international relations expert with extensive experience in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Vietnam, and Thailand. He specializes in the study of war crimes documentation and historical atrocities. Sullivan's fieldwork focuses on equipping state and non-state armed groups with a solid understanding of humanitarian law, along with effective methods and best practices for documenting war crimes. In academia, his research, which began during his residency in Ukraine, centers on the 1919 pogroms in Ukraine and Poland, as well as the subsequent pogroms in Rivne (Rovno) and Lutsk during and after the Nazi occupation of 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 Platform 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
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Partnerships & Affiliations

  • 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)