Stephen Townley earned his B.A. in Middle Eastern history from Yale College and his J.D. from Yale Law School. He has served as a research associate at the International Crisis Group, where he focused on Iraq and Africa policy. He has also been a summer associate in the U.S. Law and Security Project of Human Rights First and in the Legal Adviser's Office to the State Department. At Yale Law School, Stephen was a participant in the Middle East Legal Studies Seminar, an editor of the Yale Journal of International Law and Yale Law Journal, and the student-director of a litigation clinic dedicated to restoring the balance between national security and civil liberties. He has published on national security and international law issues in the Yale Law Journal, the Yale Journal of International Law, and the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy. He is fluent in French and has studied Arabic at several Middle Eastern universities.