December 2023

Marxe Dean's Note

This December Marxe Monthly focuses on the stellar work of our faculty and students in the realm of international affairs.


We understand that globalization, security, climate change, migration, resource management, public health, food security—many of today’s greatest opportunities and most urgent problems—transcend national borders. Governments at all levels, corporations, multilaterals, INGOs, and public-private partnerships need to work together to

take on these demanding issues. In this challenging new world, the Marxe School is pushing the envelope to produce creative and successful, globally focused leaders and researchers in the public and private sectors.



We hope you enjoy reading about our internationally focused activities at the Marxe School.


Warm regards,

Marxe Dean Sherry Ryan, PhD

Marxe Events

Israel/Gaza: Past, Present, and Future

Clockwise: Mohammed Dajani (scholar, activist, founder of Wasatia), Mitchell Cohen (Baruch College, Political Science), Yehudah Kurtzer (President, Hartman Institute); Carla Robbins (Faculty Director of the MIA Program and Clinical Professor, Marxe School)

On October 31, Baruch’s Marxe School and Weissman School co-hosted a panel on “Israel/Gaza: Past, Present, Future.” The discussion featured a panel of experts–Mitchell Cohen, Professor of Political Science at the Weissman School, Mohammed Dajani, Palestinian scholar, peace activist and founder of the Wasatia movement, and Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute–and was moderated by the Marxe School's Carla Anne Robbins. In the midst of this devastating conflict, the conversation was difficult and respectful and committed above all to learning and informed analysis.  


You can view a video with highlights of the panel discussion. The New York Times opinion pages also covered the Marxe-Weissman discussion as part of a week-long artist’s look at New Yorkers’ reaction to the Israel-Gaza war.  

Marxe Worldwide

International Internships

Meet Kimberly Kazdal, Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs alumna, who was one of just 45 individuals nationwide placed in the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship Program. The Pickering Fellowship prepares young people for a career in the State Department Foreign Service where they learn to create, advocate for, and implement U.S. foreign policy.


Learn more about Kimberly and her path to becoming a Pickering fellow.

Meet Owen Maireni Daniel Sanchez, a Master of International Affairs student who is among 108 graduate students in the U.S. to win the Boren Fellowship. The Boren program offers students the resources and encouragement to acquire language skills in countries critical to the future, security, and stability of the U.S. Owen has chosen Taiwan for this experience.


Learn more about Owen and his pursuit to become a Boren Fellow

Meet Erik Markewich, Master of International Affairs alumnus who is a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. He is completing a six-month rotation at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations on the East Asia Pacific team.


See Erik's LinkedIn profile for more information about his education and career

Faculty Podcast

Carla Anne Robbins' Podcast

'The World Next Week'

Council on Foreign Relations' Managing Editor of Digital Content, Robert McMahon and the Marxe School's Carla Anne Robbins in the studio

Marxe School Faculty Director of the Master of International Affairs program and Clinical Professor, Carla Anne Robbins is also a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and co-host of CFR’s ‘The World Next Week' podcast that covers critical global issues in the news. Recent episodes have focused on the Israel-Gaza conflict, the Biden-Xi meeting, and the future of US support for the war in Ukraine. An award-winning journalist, Carla was previously the deputy editorial page editor at the New York Times and chief diplomatic correspondent at the Wall Street Journal. 


You can learn more about the Marxe Master of International Affairs program and how our students and professors are engaging with the world. And you can listen to Carla’s CFR podcast and learn more about her work at the Council.  

Faculty Research

Professor Desmond Arias' Research on

'The Dynamics of Illicit Governance'

Marxe Endowed Chair of Western Hemisphere Affairs and Professor, Desmond Arias is Co-Principal Investigator for a research project in Mexico on illicit governance by organized criminal groups, funded by the National Science Foundation. Arias co-wrote the proposal with his colleague Javier Osorio at the University of Arizona. The grant began in 2021 and was awarded to the University of Arizona in the amount of $526,070, $170,000 of which is a sub-contract to Baruch College.


The project emerged from research that Professor Arias conducted with colleagues Felbab Brown at The Brookings Institute, and Javier Osorio at the University of Arizona for a Minerva Research Initiative award from the Department of Defense project on armed actor governance in Colombia and Afghanistan. The research seeks to explain why, which, and where organized criminal groups develop illicit governance structures over local, economic, social, and political activities in Mexico. To examine this, the investigators are carrying out a national expert survey to collect data, and will perform comparative subnational fieldwork, with sites to be determined.


The findings of the project will help deepen our understanding of the role of non-state armed actors in politics and will also aid U.S. national security by illuminating the causes of illicit governance in countries where the U.S. seeks to support the government, maintain political stability, and contain civil conflicts. It will contribute to the study of  areas such as failed states, non-state actor governance in conflict-afflicted countries, criminal organizations and corruption, and democratic back-sliding.


Learn more about Marxe Endowed Chair of Western Hemisphere Affairs and Professor, Desmond Arias and his research


Learn more about the project

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