Emily Mellgard is a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) working on sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining CFR in 2012, she interned with the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London, and with Religions for Peace in New York. She holds a Bachelors in Theology and Religion from Durham University and a Masters in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Emily contributes to the CFR blog "Africa in Transition," writing the series “Tracking the Traffickers.” All opinions are Emily's own.