Peter M. Manikas is a senior associate and regional director for Asia programs at NDI. Previously, he was the Institute’s chief of party in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malawi. From August 1998 to October 2000 he served in Washington, DC as NDI's regional manager of Southern Africa programs. Mr. Manikas has been associated with NDI, first as a consultant, and later as a senior associate, since 1988. He has been involved in NDI's democratic development work in more than 20 countries.
Before joining NDI full-time, he served as a consultant to the chairman of the U.N.Commission of Experts for the former Yugoslavia, providing advice and research on the law applicable to the conflict. He also served as a senior fellow in International Human Rights Law at DePaul University College of Law's International Human Rights Law Institute in Chicago, Illinois, specializing in international criminal law and human rights. He is the co-author of a major treatise on the law applied by the U.N.'s International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague. He has also served as a consultant to the World Bank, the UN and the United States Agency for International Development on human rights and anti-corruption issues. Earlier, he held the position of research social scientist at Northwestern University's Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research. He is the author of more than 20 publications on international law, elections and public policy.
In 1984, Mr. Manikas served as the executive director of a court reform commission in Cook County, Illinois, appointed by the chief judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, in the aftermath of a judicial scandal involving more than 70 circuit court judges and other court system personnel. He later served in a similar capacity on a statewide basis, directing the work of a judicial reform commission appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Mr. Manikas is a member of the Illinois Bar. He received a JD from De Paul University College of Law, MA from George Washington University and BA from Roosevelt University.
