Sabine Freizer
Resolving Deadly Conflict

Director of Europe Program, International Crisis Group

Sabine Freizer has seen first hand what protracted conflict and political dislocation mean for the people caught in their grip. Working in the Southern Caucuses of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Sabine regularly worked with people who have been living in dilapidated train cars and tents for more than a decade, and she’s been privy to the birth of a new generation that has known nothing but these demoralizing conditions. Key to her effectiveness at convening dialogue among people in the region was the simple act of listening to the stories of the turmoil of their lives since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sabine’s experience and deep understanding of the human toll of conflict recently landed her in a new position, directing crisis-monitoring efforts as head of the Europe program of the renowned International Crisis Group. Now pregnant with her own child, Sabine contemplates how her hectic work schedule — which has often demanded jumping on a plane once a week — will shift as she trades refugee camps for Brussels offices. As she negotiates the multinational working of the EU, she’ll also be negotiating the raising of her child with her Turkish husband, an engineer. They look forward to the possibility of an eventual move back to the U.S. and continuing live by the values of tolerance and curiosity she learned as a child, values that energize her work on behalf of people in need.