Johns Hopkins University Provost Sunil Kumar has designated Brands as a Provost’s Fellow for the coming year, with the mission of enhancing SAIS’ collaboration with the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. This will have multiple dimensions, including increasing the number of SAIS faculty members teaching on the Homewood campus, bringing Krieger School undergraduates to SAIS, exploring co-curricular activities, and deepening links with the program in international studies at the Krieger School, which will be chaired by Johns Hopkins SAIS Professor Adria Lawrence.
Campante has accepted the position as vice dean for education and academic affairs, helping to lead the transformation of Johns Hopkins SAIS’ academic programs. Campante joined the Johns Hopkins University in 2018 as a Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of International Economics, holding appointments at both Johns Hopkins SAIS and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. His cross-disciplinary scholarship on political economy, development economics, and urban and regional issues has significantly shaped our understanding of urban economies, particularly the impact of spatial distributions of people and economic activity. His work has appeared in leading academic journals such as American Economic Review and The Quarterly Journal of Economics, among others; in The New York Times, Science, The Washington Post, The Economist, the Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, and Politico; and on NPR.
Osborne joins the Johns Hopkins SAIS senior leadership team as chief of staff. He recently retired from the U.S. Army after 30 years of distinguished service that included humanitarian relief efforts, peace enforcement operations, and several combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. During his career, he commanded several units — including both a battalion and a brigade — and he served on many staffs, such as the 82nd Airborne Division, U.S. European Command, the Joint Staff, and NATO headquarters. Of note, Osborne served as a special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and, in his most recent assignment, served as chief of staff to the provost and then executive officer to the university president of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
Sands has been appointed acting director of the Latin American Studies Program. He is currently a senior research professor and director of the Center for Canadian Studies. He represents Johns Hopkins SAIS on the faculty advisory council to the Johns Hopkins University Research Administration, the universitywide office of sponsored research.
The following faculty members at Johns Hopkins SAIS hold joint appointments with other university divisions:
Jessica Fanzo is the Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Ethics & Global Food and Agriculture at Johns Hopkins SAIS, the Berman Institute of Bioethics, and the Department of International Health in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Adria Lawrence is the Aronson Associate Professor of International Studies and Political Science at the Johns Hopkins University, a joint appointment with Johns Hopkins SAIS and the Department of Political Science at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. She is a scholar of Middle Eastern and North African politics. She studies colonialism, nationalism, conflict, and collective action.
Jeremey Shiffman is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Health Policy at the Johns Hopkins University, with joint appointments in the Bloomberg School of Public Health (Department of International Health) and Johns Hopkins SAIS. A political scientist by training, his research focuses on the politics of health policy processes in low-income countries and in global governance. His research has been funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates, MacArthur, Rockefeller, and Open Society foundations, among other organizations. His work has appeared in multiple journals, including The Lancet and the American Journal of Public Health.
Johns Hopkins SAIS welcomed the following new faculty members to campus this fall:
Anne Applebaum is senior fellow of international affairs and an Agora Fellow in Residence. Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize–winning author and noted historian whose books include Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine and Gulag. She is a foreign policy columnist for The Washington Post and regularly writes for Foreign Affairs. A Yale University graduate, she obtained her master’s degree from the London School of Economics in international relations.
Sam Asher is assistant professor of International Economics. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins SAIS, he served as an economist in the Development Research Group at the World Bank. Asher’s research focuses on economic activity, growth, and poverty in developing countries. He received his PhD in economics from Harvard University and served as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Economics Department of Nuffield College at the University of Oxford.
Daniel Marston is professor of the practice and director of the Strategic Thinkers Program, a new partnership between the school and the U.S. Department of Defense. Marston’s research focuses on how armies learn and adapt to new environments. He has authored or co-authored several books, including Phoenix from the Ashes, which won the Templer Medal Book Prize in 2003. Marston received a doctoral degree in imperial and commonwealth history from the University of Oxford.
Paula Thornhill is associate director of Strategic Studies and associate professor of the practice. After retiring from the U.S. Air Force at the rank of brigadier general, Thornhill has researched military education, training, and strategy. She is the author of Demystifying the American Military: Institutions, Evolution, and Challenges Since 1789. Thornhill obtained master’s degrees from the National War College and Stanford University, and a doctoral degree in history from the University of Oxford.
Johns Hopkins SAIS has expanded its degree offerings with a new Doctor of International Affairs (DIA). Meant for experienced professionals to advance career pathways as international relations practitioners rather than as academics, the DIA will be delivered in a hybrid format and meet an important need in the international affairs space.
“This innovative program will be the first accelerated practitioner doctorate in international affairs offered at a leading academic institution,” says Dean Eliot Cohen, noting that the DIA can be completed in just two to three years—much more quickly than the common seven-year time frame of a traditional PhD. “It will introduce a new kind of scholar-practitioner prepared to take on the most complex global issues of our time,” he adds.
The new degree program is designed to prepare experienced professionals with the research capabilities they need to become high-level policy planning experts, national security analysts, think tank scholars, and other senior-level experts across sectors and industries.
“The DIA will offer a flexible curriculum to allow students to focus on the issues of greatest importance to their careers,” Cohen adds. “Students will receive advanced research training that can be applied in institutions that shape policy, and they can practice in a wide range of organizations, from businesses to multinational organizations.”
The program was launched in February 2019 and its future is bright.
Based at SAIS Europe, the Master of Arts in European Public Policy (also called the MEPP), prepares students for careers involving the EU. Through rigorous academic instruction and hands-on practical training, students gain an insider’s understanding of the EU and the skills needed for a successful career in EU institutions, diplomacy, government affairs, risk analysis, journalism, lobbying, consulting, and more.
“This new, one-year MA gives students seeking careers in the EU policy community a clear advantage,” says SAIS Europe Director Michael G. Plummer.
Applications are now open for the inaugural summer 2020 cohort. For more details, visit sais.jhu.edu/mepp.
This degree program is pending review and endorsement by MHEC.
Eugene Finkel, associate professor of Conflict Management, European and Eurasian Studies, and International Relations, received the Bronislaw Malinowski Social Sciences Award from The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America for his recently published book, Ordinary Jews: Choice and Survival during the Holocaust.
Walter Andersen, senior adjunct professor of South Asia Studies, won Tata Literature Live’s 2018 Book of the Year for his recently published book, Messengers of Hindu Nationalism: How the RSS Reshaped India.
Three SAIS faculty members were honored with 2019 Johns Hopkins Catalyst Awards. These awards support the promising research and creative endeavors of early-career faculty — with the goal of launching them on a path to a sustainable and rewarding academic career. The SAIS awardees are:
Ling Chen, assistant professor of Political Economy. Her research interests lie in political economy and government-business relations in China and East Asia, especially the political origins of economic policies.
Sarah Jordaan, assistant professor of Energy, Resources, and Environment, and of Canadian Studies. Her research is aimed at uncovering the environmental and economic trade-offs related to energy decisions, particularly those trade-offs related to the life cycle of energy technologies.
Sarah Parkinson, Aronson Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies. Her research examines organizational behavior and social change during and following war. Focusing predominantly on the Middle East and North Africa, she uses social network analysis and ethnographic methods to study the ways that actors such as militant organizations, political parties, and humanitarian groups cope with crisis, disruption, and fragmentation.
Narges Bajoghli, assistant professor of Middle East Studies, was honored with a Johns Hopkins Discovery Award. In 2019, 32 Discovery Awards were given to interdisciplinary teams across 12 units of Johns Hopkins. Award winners are poised to arrive at important discoveries or creative works. Bajoghli will work on a project titled “Invitation to the Masses: The Russian and Iranian Revolutions and their Arts of Persuasion,” together with Niloofar Haeri (KSAS) and Anne Eakin Moss (KSAS).
China’s bid for more influence through regional and global partnerships has led to increased scrutiny. In response, SAIS experts have explored the potential impact of China investing in infrastructure and development projects across the globe.
John Lipsky, the Peter G. Peterson Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, told attendees at a lecture on Chinese trade covered by C-SPAN that with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, “there are issues of debt transparency, the planning process, and whether procurement is going to be seen as fair and open internationally.” Watch here.
Deborah Bräutigam, the Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of Political Economy and director of the China Africa Research Initiative, wrote in The American Interest that Chinese investment in African countries’ infrastructure projects is “quite attractive to many low-income countries and we [the U.S.] do not have the tools to offer something better.” Read more.
The Trump administration’s “America First” polices are shifting the landscape on issues long considered foundational to U.S. influence and leadership in the world. SAIS experts have analyzed these changing positions and what they mean for U.S.-global relations.
Senior Research Professor of International Economics Anne O. Krueger wrote inProject Syndicate that “the current U.S. approach to [international] trade will result in deteriorating U.S. economic performance.” Read more.
Adjunct Lecturer Benjamin Gedan appeared on C-SPAN to argue that threatened cuts to funding for Central American nations would be counterproductive. “Governance is inadequate in these countries,” he said. “If the objective of the United States is to reduce immigration, the only way we will succeed is if those countries have an improved quality of life.” Watch for more.
Speyer Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar Sarah Sewall told PRI’s The World that the U.S. has not engaged the Chinese publicly on Tibetan human rights issues because “we don’t even have the moral leadership of pointing out the importance of this issue.” Listen for more.
Since January, there have been dueling claims from Nicolas Maduro and Juan Guaido for the Venezuelan presidency. SAIS experts have delved into how the country’s leadership crisis is impacting ongoing economic and political issues.
Anne O. Krueger, senior research professor of International Economics, wrote in Project Syndicate that Venezuela needs to “restore a stable macroeconomic environment and business climate while simultaneously improving the lot of Venezuelan citizens, so that they will continue to support political reforms.” Read more.
Benjamin N. Gedan, adjunct lecturer of Latin American Studies, said on Voice of America’sEncounter that economic sanctions issued by the U.S. are risky “because you’re guaranteed to negatively affect humanitarian conditions that are already dire, but you are not guaranteed to have the result you seek in dislodging Nicolas Maduro.”
Monica de Bolle, the Riordan Roett Chair of Latin American Studies and director of the Latin American Studies Program and Emerging Markets Specialization, expects strong market reforms in Venezuela, telling Voice of America, “You have to get rid of that [government intervention] and just allow the market to reappear, which doesn’t really take very long if the situation on the ground is stable.” Read more.
Foreign Policy Institute Senior Hafed Al-Ghwell wrote in Arab News that “activity surrounding Venezuela is just another reminder of yet another cycle of U.S.-led regime change that will probably end in disaster—this time in Latin America, not the usual Middle East.” Read more.
No one can wave a magic wand to solve all problems. But John McLaughlin, Distinguished Professor in Residence in the Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, taps into the power of magic to help his students gain real-world insights on navigating Washington once they leave the school.
McLaughlin, who joined Johns Hopkins SAIS after a 32-year career in the federal government, including the Central Intelligence Agency, brings some innovative approaches to his teaching: from using magic in his lectures, to starting a magic-themed speaker series, “Defense Against the Dark Arts.” Here he talks about the inspiration for his somewhat unconventional pedagogical approach.
“I personally love magic as a hobby. I perform at a few shows here and there outside of teaching. But in the classroom, I do it ever so slightly to help keep things lively. For example, I’ll be in the middle of a lecture, drinking a bottle of water, and unexpectedly, I’ll flip the bottle upside down, keeping the water from cascading out. Now with my students’ captive attention, I’ll say something akin to ‘in the intelligence world, sometimes you have to defy the laws of physics.’ It opens up great dialogue. I want them to start thinking outside the box, just like I try to do while teaching this course
“Outside of the regular classes I teach, I’ve also started a speaker series called ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts,’ It’s open to any students, alumni, and staff members, and we interview three, sometimes four speakers a semester. If I could rename it in layman’s terms, it’d be titled ‘How to be Effective in Washington.’ I interview speakers like Madeleine Albright (former Secretary of State), Michelle Flounoy (former Under Secretary of Defense), David Sanger (New York Times journalist), Steve Hadley (former National Security advisor to George W. Bush), Bob Mueller (former FBI Director), and many more.
“My goal is to have students hear for themselves how these folks got to where they are. What challenges did they face? And what skills are they looking for if they were hiring? Just like in defending yourself from the dark arts, in Washington you will encounter all sorts of people. Your job is to succeed in an environment that’s always a challenging place. I’m not saying Washington is evil, but I am teaching students to understand its bureaucracies — and to learn from the people who have worked successfully there so that they can follow in their footsteps
“This series was Dean Eliot Cohen’s idea — I just developed it. Many students today are familiar with magic and wizards due to popular culture, and I think there are a lot of lessons to take from them that can apply to life in general, but especially when working in Washington
“For example, choosing your friends wisely. I tell my students all the time, yes you need to build your network and acquire mentors, but what qualities do you want in that network? When you need help, do you feel comfortable asking for it? In one wizard’s case, his friends in various books were very pivotal not only to his success, but the success of the greater good
“Another example is that sometimes the most harmful action is inaction. I want my students to know, the longer they delay, the act of indecision actually becomes an action — with your options diminishing. Sometimes in the intelligence world, you have to predict the future, even if you’re not ready
“Also, I want my students to get to know people — both these speakers, and other people they encounter throughout their careers. I want them to be careful of their first impressions.” Just like magic, people aren’t always what they seem. Give people time, they usually surprise you.
“This series has successfully grown from attracting about 10 students to 50 to 60 students today. When you have speakers like Wendy Sherman, who negotiated the nuclear agreement with Iran, I want my students to really take away: How does someone do that, and how do they succeed?”
A Watershed Moment
As Johns Hopkins SAIS celebrates its 75th anniversary, the magazine sat down at 555 Pennsylvania Ave (the future home of the school), with Dean Eliot A. Cohen and Student Government Association President Shamaila Ashraf for a wide-ranging conversation about our changing world, the school’s future, and curricular changes that will be nothing short of transformational.
Confronting a Crisis
New faculty member Yascha Mounk is on a mission to strengthen liberal democracy.
On the Shoulders of Giants
During this 75th anniversary year, we celebrate the seminal contributions of early SAIS greats, whose intellectual DNA continues to run deep in their contemporary counterparts. Our second installment in a yearlong series.
Through the Years
Beginning from the School’s earliest days, we highlight SAIS’s rich history and important milestones.
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