Geoffrey Macdonald

Biography

Geoffrey Macdonald is a political scientist and development practitioner based in Washington, DC. Geoffrey is currently a Senior Advisor in the Asia Division at the International Republican Institute (IRI), which is a non-partisan INGO that promotes democratic institutions and values around the world.  From 2018-2022, Geoffrey was IRI's Country Director in Bangladesh, where he managed programs on civil society empowerment, political party assistance, youth civic education, minority rights, and countering violent extremism. He lived in Dhaka from March 2019 to February 2021. Geoffrey’s academic research focuses on political and extremist violence, democratic design, and conflict management from a comparative perspective. His writing has been published by the Journal of Democracy, the U.S. Institute of Peace, The Washington Post, the Council on Foreign Relations, and various other academic and policy outlets. Geoffrey holds a Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Denver and has taught political science at Grinnell College, George Washington University, and other institutions.