Deborah Isser is Lead Governance Specialist at the World Bank. Her focus is on the political economy of development and institutions that deliver basic services, justice and security. She has led operations and analytical work in over fifteen countries in Africa, East Asia Pacific and the Middle East. She is co-author of the World Development Report 2017, Governance and the Law, and was program manager of the Justice for the Poor program, and focal point for fragile and conflict-affected states. Previously, she worked at the United States Institute of Peace, directing projects on legal pluralism and land conflict. She was senior policy adviser at the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and special adviser on peacekeeping at the United States Mission to the United Nations. She is the editor and author of several reports, articles and book chapters on law, justice and development. She is adjunct faculty at Georgetown and George Washington Law Schools. She received degrees from Harvard Law School, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Columbia University and was judicial clerk to The Honorable Justice Dalia Dorner of the Supreme Court of Israel.