Spencer P. Boyer

Director of International Law and Diplomacy

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Spencer P. Boyer is the Director of International Law and Diplomacy in the National Security and International Policy Department at American Progress. Previously he was a Fellow to the Security and Peace Initiative–a joint initiative of the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation. Prior to joining the Center, Spencer was the Executive Director and War Powers Initiative Director at the Constitution Project, based at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute.

Spencer is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received his J.D. from the New York University School of Law, where he specialized in public international law and the work of international organizations. While at NYU, he also obtained a master's degree in French Studies and researched international environmental law matters in London. Spencer began his professional career as an Associate with the international law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, he worked in The Hague as a Law Clerk to the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in Zurich as a Staff Attorney at the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland, and in Paris as Counsel at the International Court of Arbitration. He has also been a Corporate Affairs Director at a Fortune 500 company in San Francisco, where he focused on global corporate social responsibility matters.

Spencer has been a guest analyst with numerous international, national, and local news outlets, including CNN, BBC, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, and Voice of America. In addition, he is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, New York, and New Jersey, and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.