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Investigating Power, Economies, and Institutions from Global to Local

Resolving today鈥檚 transnational crises requires a global perspective that unites pioneering research with a foundational understanding of economics, politics, and governance. In SIS鈥檚 Department of Politics, Governance, and Economics (PGE), our faculty of political scientists, economists, and top regional specialists investigate longstanding and emerging questions related to power, identity, and institutions. Our courses train students with the foundational knowledge and data analysis skills to resolve pressing international, regional, and local issues鈥攆rom democratic backsliding and trade competition to humanitarian assistance, state building, and financial cooperation. Our students contribute to innovative policy and practice and graduate prepared for immediate placement in impactful careers in international organizations, government, nonprofit organizations, and private corporations.听

Accelerating Growth for Women-led SMEs | Research Conference

PGE is proud to partner with IDB, IDB Invest, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative听补苍诲 the Institute for Business & Social Impact at UC Berkeley听to promote new research and evidence on gender and entrepreneurship.

IDB Headquarters, Washington D.C. | October 29 - 30, 2024

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Research

Jennifer Poole, Foreign Investment and Gender Equality in India: Competitive Pressures or Technology Transfer?

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Research

Tamar Gutner, Conceptualizing and evaluating how international organizations collaborate

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Cemetery in Halabja

International

The Real Impact of Chemical Warfare

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PGE Bulletin Board听

  • International organizations are increasingly being asked to work with other actors, but little is known about how these relationships work. PGE professor Tamar Gutner , with Rasmus Heltberg, about how to better design and evaluate them.

  • PGE Professor Randy Henning discusses the of the IMF in his recent article published by the Centr for International Governance Innovation.

  • GGPS student Aidin Eminov (SIS/MA '25) , Cross Border Insights, at the Summit of the Future at the United Nations 2024.

  • PGE Professors Carl LeVan, Austin Hart, Randall Henning, Tamar Gutner, Sumitra Badrinathan, and Agustina Giraudy attended听the 2024 American Political Science Association (APSA) annual meeting in early September, focused on the theme of "Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,"听Check out their presentations.

  • Telmen Altanshagai (SIS/MA '25), current GGPS student, writes about the policies and politics of听her home country, Mongolia. Read her听听补苍诲 , both published in The Diplomat.听

  • Giulia Rozzo (SIS/MA '25), current GGPS听student, kicks off the new academic year as the SIS Graduate Student Council President. Congrats, Giulia!

First, we would like to extend our congratulations to our students who were recognized as SIS-wide Graduate Student Award winners. Calvin Elison (CRS) was presented with the Outstanding Academic Performance or Scholarly Contribution award. Mateo Maya (IER) was awarded the Outstanding Service On-Campus award.听

On May 8th, the PGE department hosted the PGE Graduation Ceremony, celebrating our department-wide student awardees.

Congratulations to our CRS Graduate Student Award Winners!听

  • Outstanding Academic Performance or Scholarly Contribution: Alyssa Durnil
  • Outstanding Professional or Policy Contribution -听Nathaniel Schochet
  • Outstanding Student Leadership -听Michael Cruz

Congratulations to our GGPS Graduate Student Award Winners!听

  • Outstanding Academic Performance or Scholarly Contribution -听Yuefeng Shi
  • Outstanding Service On Campus -听Shubhankar Agarwal and Jessica Hill
  • Outstanding Professional or Policy Contribution -听Bernae DySart
  • Excellence in Quantitative Research -听Helen Souki Reyes

  • Outstanding Student Leadership -听Jared Rutherford

Congratulations to our IER and IER:QM Graduate Student Award Winners!听

  • Outstanding Academic Performance or Scholarly Contribution -听Caroline Arkalji
  • Outstanding Professional or Policy Contribution -听Bhargav Prajapati听听

  • Outstanding Student Leadership -听Edgar Aguilar听

Finally, congrats to this year's graduates!听

On April 10, 2024 Prof. Robert Koopman, led the听Trade in the Political Crosshairs: Implications for the Western Hemisphere and Asia conference. The event brought together trade experts from various sectors. 听The recurrent theme throughout the day was how businesses and governments are adapting to changing global trade flows. These changes, influenced by evolving US trade policies, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change, are creating both opportunities and challenges for businesses in the Western Hemisphere and Asia.

The essential message delivered was that the global trade landscape has indeed changed 鈥 the long period of continued multilateral and regional integration led by a relatively open and liberal US policy stance after WWII is now being replaced by a more nationalistic centered, Industrial Policy driven US policy environment largely focused on reducing trade with China and emphasizing near/friend/reshoring. Combined with COVID-19 pandemic supply chain disruptions and the focus on the need for greater domestic sources of medical supplies and increasing supply chain disruptions in critical global logistic routes, such as the Suez and Panama Canals, businesses are seriously rethinking their supply chain organization and government policy focus.听

During the day鈥檚 panels, stakeholders shared their perspectives:

  • Industry associations and firms, both foreign and domestic, emphasized operating in a new world of increased policy uncertainty. US-China trade tensions impacted supply chain decisions, leading many firms to diversify sourcing geographically and by the number of suppliers, increasing inventories, and adopting a "China plus one" strategy.
  • Businesses are pushing for transparency, clarity, and flexibility in government policies to reduce high operating uncertainty. While some firms are keen on subsidies that cut production costs, they dislike restrictions and uncertainty in input sourcing. Most prefer a focus on market access negotiations and traditional rules, viewing small deals and socially oriented rules as less economically significant.
  • Logistics experts emphasized the growing challenges of managing efficient shipping flows, noting the industry's significant impact on daily life and supply chain efficiency. The container shipping industry, worth around $7 trillion annually, has seen shipping costs decrease from 75-100% to about 2% of the value of goods shipped since the advent of container shipping. This shift makes increased shipping costs and delays more critical for production and sales planning than direct costs. The industry faces additional challenges, including the need for infrastructure investments for larger ships, addressing climate change and emissions, and integrating logistics providers into supply chain management systems for greater efficiency.
  • Some countries, such as Costa Rica and Mexico, have had strategic approaches to economic development and positioning in regional and global supply chains. With rapid technological change and the need for highly efficient production and low uncertainty in domestic policy, many countries will need to make significant investments in their institutions, people, and infrastructure. Having greater clarity and engagement from potential customer markets such as the US is crucial if countries in the region are to position themselves to facilitate more effective diversification of supply chains.

Keynote speakers also shared their perspectives:

  • Stuart Sandlin explained the complexities of container shipping and what the industry is doing to address global crises and simultaneously build a greener future for shipping. Sandlin鈥檚 remarks helped lay the groundwork for the day as it brought in the centrality of the private sector in the trade matrix.
  • Alan Wolff suggested that convergence, not co-existence, must be the guiding principle for a WTO in 2050. New agreements could include interested parties, allowing free entry and limiting vetoes. There would be a preference for binding rules over best efforts or declarations of intent. Disputes would be resolved quickly with the help of AI, and the WTO secretariat would act as a proactive executive branch, assisting members in exploring alternative paths forward and ensuring compliance with their obligations.
  • Anabel Gonzalez noted that while goods trade had plateaued, services trade is growing rapidly, risks from protectionism and fragmentation need to be mitigated, and trade architecture should be shaped to support openness and predictability, She also noted that Latin American and Caribbean countries need to focus on supply-side measures such as improving infrastructure, strengthening human capital, improving access to finance, reducing high energy costs and fostering competition and improving the business environment, to take advantage of potential opportunities.听
  • Padideh Ala鈥檌 charted the historical course of US trade policy, from its focus on the internal political economy with varying interests holding influence for much of its history prior to WWII, to the postwar focus on leading the establishment of global rules among a small but growing group of countries until the creation of the WTO in 1995.听

The views of policy experts on the global trading system鈥檚 current challenges shared the common theme that the world has indeed changed from the period of increased integration after WWII. There is a recognition that the world is politically fragmenting, with little convergence on a clear vision for the next steps. If governments and voters view the benefits of trade being outweighed by the risks of trade, how do you define security? What are the objectives of these new tools and how do you evaluate their outcomes? There was general agreement that the WTO was not designed to manage the 鈥渞ise of China鈥 and its political evolution, but there were differences of view as to whether the WTO was fatally flawed. Much of China鈥檚 success is due to doing things well, and 鈥榙ecoupling鈥 from China does provide opportunities for other developing countries to tap into markets and global value chains. There was, however, general agreement that in the current political environment the US Congress might seriously consider withdrawing Permanent Normal Trading Relations for China, subjecting it to much higher US tariffs. Which begs the question: Is a global trading system with China on the outside a more dangerous and less effective system?

Our Programs

The graduate programs and undergraduate thematic areas of听the听Department of Politics, Governance, and Economics听prepare students with the knowledge and data analysis skills to resolve international, regional, and local issues spanning听politics and state building,听economics,听补苍诲 humanitarian assistance.听

Master's degrees

The Global Governance, Politics, and Security: Quantitative Economic Methods (GGPS:QEM) STEM听degree provides a focused education in quantitative methods and applied economics essential for students of global security, multilateral diplomacy, political economy, and economic development. Our graduates are well-positioned to shape policy with data-driven, effective solutions at ojbs in government affairs, multilateral organizations, and international business. The STEM designation enables international students to apply for a 24-month extension of Optional Practical Training (OPT), granting them the ability to work in the US for up to three years in their major field of study.

More on GGPS:QEM program

The Global Governance, Politics, and Security program takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding relations among states and societies. Our students are dedicated to evidence-based policy and acquire foundations in politics and economics before specializing in one of four professional tracks: global security; multilateral diplomacy and global governance; international economic policy; and states, society, and politics. Our graduates find careers in multilateral organizations, government agencies, the private sector, and NGOs.

More on GGPS program

Undergraduate thematic areas

The Global and Comparative Governance Thematic Area is designed for students who are interested in how a range of actors鈥攍ocal, national, global鈥攕eek to understand and solve the compelling security, development, environmental, and economic problems of our time. This thematic area focuses on the role that states, regional and global institutions (the United Nations, EU, World Bank, etc.), civil society, and the private sector play in addressing regional and global problems. Students also have the option of specializing in a geographical region.听Students will take a multidisciplinary approach and will acquire the skills to empirically evaluate phenomena, anticipate emerging trends, and interpret data through an innovative curriculum that emphasizes theory and applied knowledge.

Gateway Course

SISU 280 Ruling the World: Global and Comparative Governance (multiple sections available)

Thematic Area Courses

*Course offerings vary by semester. Alternative and/or additional options may be available.

  • SISU 329听Global Economic Governance
  • SISU 380听Empire and Imperialism
  • SISU 380听International Law
  • SISU 380 Conquest, Cold War, Globalization听
  • SISU 386 Contemporary Africa

A more integrated world has raised the living standards of millions of people, yet it is blamed for causing all sorts of damages to societies, the environment, national cultures, and domestic sovereignty. In the Global Economy Thematic Area, students will study the political economy of this evolving international landscape and analyze economic growth, winners and losers, and the legitimacy of these changes. They explore how globalization changes the world and alters the political, economic, and social prospects of nations and their citizens. They also consider how international organizations struggle to manage this complex process and create governance structures to adapt to these changes, and how national governments attempt to balance their sovereign mandate to govern and protect their people with the frequently disrupting financial and trade-related impacts of global competition.

Gateway Course

SISU 220 International Political Economy (multiple sections available)

Thematic Area Courses

*Course offerings vary by semester. Alternative and/or additional options may be available.

  • SISU 320 International Money and Finance
  • SISU 320 International Trade Relations
  • SISU 321 Political Economy of Africa
  • SISU 324 Breakfast in the Americas
  • SISU 324 Political Economy of Latin America
  • SISU 329听Global Economic Governance