Christopher Sabatini
Senior Director for Policy

As Senior Director of Policy, Christopher Sabatini oversees the Americas Society and Council of the Americas’ (AS/COA) research and publishing programs. In his capacity at the AS/COA, he chairs the organizations’ working group on rule of law which recently published a report on rule of law in the hemisphere titled Rule of Law, Economic Growth and Prosperity, which appears this month in Spanish. 

Dr. Sabatini also chairs the AS/COA’s Cuba Working Group.  In April 2007, Dr. Sabatini created and launched the AS/COA’s policy journal, Americas Quarterly, and he is now the Editor-in-Chief. 

From 1997 to 2005, Dr. Sabatini was the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Endowment for Democracy.  As Director, Dr. Sabatini managed the National Endowment for Democracy’s (NED) grant programs to International Republic Institute, National Democratic Institute, Center for International Private Enterprise, and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity as well as dozens of direct grants to research institutes and non-governmental organizations throughout the hemisphere.

From 1995 to 1997 Dr. Sabatini was a Diplomacy Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, working at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Center for Democracy and Governance. He has also served as an advisor to the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Dr. Sabatini has published numerous articles on Latin America, democratization, political parties, and the effectiveness of international programs to support democratic development. His most recent work includes: a book chapter titled, “Labor Reform: Undercompetitive Economies and Unprotected Workforce” in Can Latin America Compete: Confronting the Challenges of Globalization; an article in February/March issue of American Interest on political movements in the Andean Region; a book chapter on citizenship and democracy in Latin America; and an article on labor reform in the Journal of Democracy.

Sabatini has also written op eds for U.S. and international newspapers, including The Financial Times, The Christian Science Monitor and the Miami Herald. He has been interviewed by radio, newspaper and television on issues concerning democracy in Latin America and has testified three times before the House Sub Committee on the Western Hemisphere on U.S. policy towards Latin America—most recently in March 2008—and before the House International Relations Committee on human rights in Cuba. He is a member of the American Political Science Association and the Latin American Studies Association.