Mark P. Lagon
Senior Fellow
Mark P. Lagon is a specialist and practitioner on global institutions, global health, human rights, and human trafficking. He is Chief Policy Officer at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, where he coordinates the non-profit’s administration and congressional outreach, policy advocacy and coalition management, and research content. Ambassador Lagon is also an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Foreign Service Program.
In the NGO world, he has served as President of Freedom House. Previously, he was Executive Director and CEO of the leading anti-human trafficking nonprofit, Polaris. In the Executive Branch, he served in three successive roles at the Department of State: member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, Deputy Assistant Secretary of International Organization Affairs, and, finally, Ambassador-at-Large directing the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Earlier, on Capitol Hill, he was senior staffer at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee responsible for international organizations and human rights, and he served as deputy director at the House Republican Policy Committee.
He is co-editor with Anthony Clark Arend of the 2014 book, Human Dignity and the Future of Global Institutions and author of the book The Reagan Doctrine: Sources of American Conduct in the Cold War’s Last Chapter. He has recently become a regular on Mornings with Carmen LaBerge, heard live Monday-Friday, 7-9 a.m. nationwide on The Faith Radio Network.
He received his Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University, and A.B. from Harvard University.
Speaker’s Bureau
August 30th, 2017 | “Faith and International Development” an Evening Conversation in Washington, DC with Ambassador Mark Lagon
Publications and Scholarly Work
• Human Dignity and the Future of Global Institutions (2014)
• The Reagan Doctrine: Sources of American Conduct in the Cold War’s Last Chapter (1994)
Recent Articles
• Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve Health Systems and Equity Worldwide (Friends of the Global Fight)
• Ending Female Genital Mutilation (American Purpose)
• Multilateral Renovation and Innovation: Don’t Let a Crisis Go to Waste (National Interest)
• Revitalizing Human Trafficking Policy Twenty Years In (Council on Foreign Relations)
• Why Inclusion Is Important for U.S. Foreign Policy (Foreign Policy)
• In Fragile States, Disease Outbreaks Don’t Stay Local for Long (Foreign Policy)
Recent Speaking Engagements
• Global Insights: Responding to Global Health Challenges (World Affairs Council of New Hampshire)
• Panel on Combating Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery (Council on Foreign Relations)
• The Valley of the Shadow of Death: A Choice Between Two Futures (The Reconnect with Carmen LaBerge)