Foreign Policy, comparative politics, and ethnic politics and conflicts. Piombo has been a visiting scholar at the University of the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town, George Mason Universitys School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and Stanford Universitys Center for African Studies. Her teaching and research specializes on political transitions and post-conflict governance; statebuilding and peacebuilding; mechanisms to manage ethnic conflict; African security; and U.S. foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa. Piombo joined NPS in 2003 after completing her Ph.D. at the Department of Political Science of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.