Dickinson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and completed her juris doctor at Yale Law School in 1996.
She has written about for-profit and non-profit private involvement with various aspects of the US foreign aid budget, including providing emergency humanitarian relief, development assistance, as well as post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
She notes that a process that began during William Cohen's tenure as Secretary of Defense was significantly expanded under Donald Rumsfeld and his successor Robert Gates.
[5] Stephanie Gosnell Handel, a former Marine officer, writes that Dickinson focuses on "developing a legal, regulatory, and institutional framework to respond to the threat outsourcing poses to public values.
"[7] Law professor Elena Baylis writes that Outsourcing War and Peace is an "engaging book" that "examines a variety of means of potentially holding contractors accountable including retroactive criminal and tort remedies, as well as proactive measures such as changes to contracting terms and practices, steps to increase public participation, and changes to organizational structure within contracting companies.