Tarifa served as Albanian ambassador to
the Netherlands (1998–2001) and to the
United States (2001–2005). Currently he is Professor of Sociology and International Relations, and Director of the Institute for Studies on Democracy and Development at the
University of New York Tirana. Tarifa has taught and conducted research at the
University of Tirana, the
European University of Tirana, the
Institute of Social Studies at The Hague,
Webster University (Leiden, the Netherlands),
Campbell University, the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and
Eastern Michigan University and he has delivered lectures at institutions of higher education throughout the world, such as
Duke University,
Stanford University,
New York University,
Harvard University,
Brown University, the
University of California at Berkeley,
Tufts University, the
University of Essex, and the
University of Amsterdam. Tarifa has authored, co-authored and edited 45 books and more than 90 journal articles. His books and articles have covered topics ranging from democratic transition and social issues in Eastern Europe to Human development, and current international affairs. In 1998 he became the founding Editor of "Sociological Analysis", an innovative, international scholarly journal published at Chapel Hill, NC, which he edited for 15 years. He serves as a member of the International Advisory Board of the "Journal of Social Sciences" and the "Journal of Applied Social Science". Dr. Tarifa will probably be best remembered as the leader of a campaign to introduce the discipline of
sociology into higher education in Albania. He is widely considered to be "the founder of sociological studies in Albania, and one of the country's most prominent social scientists". Tarifa has "already earned the title of father of Albanian sociology, a moniker he has generally resisted". ==Main publications==