SIPA News - Spring 2014

M a y 2 0 14

SIPANews

Home Grown Apps

ecoNoMic espionage women & work

eurozone Afghanistan vodka & Bollywood

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Letter from the Dean

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Q&A with the Dean technology & policy @ sipa

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SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant

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The Eurozone Will Remain an Unhappy Marriage

By Fernando Peinado

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Denis Morozov: Supporting Democracy and Market Economy in Russia

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Japanese Ambassador Sees Momentum for Trade Agreement with U.S.

By Fernando Peinado

By Jenna Barzelay

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By Fernando Peinado

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Changing the Ends and Means of U.S. Foreign Policy

BRICS: The Road Ahead

By Dariela Sosa

through the lens of gender

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By Doyeun Kim

SIPA’s New Specialization: Gender and Public Policy

what’s next in economic policy

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Arvind Panagariya: Business as Antidote for Indian Poverty

By Marcus Tonti

Jessamyn W. Rodriguez: Baker, Entrepreneur, and Advocate

By Valle Aviles Pinedo

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Women Encouraged to Pursue Careers in Energy

By Fernando Peinado

SIPA Community Sees Rise of Homegrown Apps

State-Sponsored Economic Espionage Is on the Rise, Strategist Says

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SIPA on Women, Work, and What’s Next

By Sara Ray

research and Practice

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PHD in Sustainable Development Celebrates 10 Years

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sipa students explore the world

By Maria José Chea

Glasnost and Perestroika: Fueled by Vodka and Bollywood

From Tracking Stocks to Hunting Criminals

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Q&A: Paul Lagunes

By Marcus Tonti

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Dipali Mukhopadhyay: Showing the Human Side of Afghan Warlords

By Melissa Mayers

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By Kate Offerdahl

Ernest Moniz

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Center for Development Economics and Policy Launches at SIPA

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Development Practice Q&A: Allison Greenberg MPA-DP ’11

By Sarayu Adeni

looking at politics

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Can Academics Be President?

By Valle Aviles Pinedo

Perspectives on the Crisis in Ukraine

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By Jawahar Shah

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The Banality of Radovan Karadži ć

By Dana Watters

SIPA’s bookshelf

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SIPA’s Bookshelf

By Doyeun Kim, Valle Aviles Pinedo, and Marcus Tonti

SIPA supporters

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Global Local Policy

By Steven M. Fulop

at home in new york city

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A Passion Outside the Classroom

By Fernando Peinado

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Todd Miner ESP ’11

By Alyssa Dubov

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2014 Dinkins Forum Bill de Blasio, 109th Mayor of New York City: Lessons of Past Leaders Impact Today’s Challenges

By Marcus Tonti

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Alumni Day

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SIPA Honors Global Leaders

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Online Giving Draws Record Participation

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Class Notes Compiled by José Hunt

letter from the DEAN

2014

has been a year of exploration at SIPA. SIPA News, our annual magazine, reflects on this aca-

demic year and the events that have inspired us.

We engaged an amazing array of political and foreign policy events. For example, we hosted the honorable Kenichiro Sasae, Japan’s Ambassador to the United States, and sponsored a rousing discussion provocatively titled “Can Academics Be Presidents?” between two of our own faculty members—Jan Svejnar and Andrés Velasco—both outstanding economists who also ran for high office. We hosted an exceptional panel on the ongoing events in Ukraine. In addition, Assistant Professor Paul Lagunes spoke to multiple groups about his ongoing work on corruption in government.

SIPA has also taken a number of steps to continue to expand the research centers associated with our major fields of study.

In 2012 the Center on Global Economic Governance was created under the leadership of Jan Svejnar, and in 2013 a revitalized Center on Global Energy Policy was launched under the leadership of Jason Bordoff. This year, SIPA launched a new Center on Development Economics and Policy headed by Eric Verhoogen and celebrated the 10-year anniversary of our PhD in Sustainable Development, a bold program that blends social and natural sciences. SIPA also held its annual BRICLab conference, sponsored by our own BRICLab within the Center on Global Economic Governance. These programs have continued to deepen our scholarship, training, and outreach in important areas of global significance.

This was also a terrific year for books published by SIPA faculty. Our own Mayor David N. Dinkins published a beautiful memoir, A Mayor’s Life. Dipali Mukhopadhyay shared insights from her excellent new book, Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan. Charles Calomiris received great acclaim for Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit. Stephen Sestanovich published a fascinating new book entitled Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama. Hisham Aidi has received national attention for Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture. Arvind Panagariya and Jagdish Bhagwati received the 2014 George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing for Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries.

We also saw a surge in student and faculty interest in the application of technology to public policy. This year we launched the Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant and welcomed a roster of leading technology experts. Alec Ross, former adviser for innovation under then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave a series of talks while in residence as a senior fellow. Silicon Valley entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale joined me to host a roundtable discussion with leading policymakers and technology entrepreneurs; Craig Mundie of Microsoft shared his thoughts with us on technology and economic espionage.

The School also saw growing interest in gender issues. Many students took advantage of SIPA’s new specialization in Gender and Public Policy. We hosted a fascinating panel on women and work; our Center on Global Energy Policy also launched a new series focused on women’s careers in the energy field.

As always, our students stepped beyond the classroom to engage serious challenges in the world. Whether by finding common ground between Indian and Russian cultures, attending international criminal tribunals, or providing relief for communities still reeling from Hurricane Sandy, SIPA students are helping to shape a better world.

And last, we cannot overstate the impact that our alumni continue to have on the world around us. We were honored to have visits from alumni Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, and Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City. We also welcomed alumni and friends back for our Global Leadership Awards Gala, which celebrated the themes of both economic development and sustainability, and our dynamic annual Alumni Day. We are enormously proud of our graduates, who now number more than 18,000 and live in 156 countries around the world.

These are just a few of the highlights of the 2013–2014 academic year. I encourage you to visit our website, where you can watch videos of many of these events, and to read through this issue of SIPA News. I look forward to another year of student, faculty, and alumni engagement and policy impact.

Merit E. Janow Dean, School of International and Public Affairs; Professor in the Practice of International Economic Law and International Affairs, Columbia University SIPA N EWS 1

Dean Merit E. Janow: Looking Ahead Merit E. Janow began her tenure as SIPA’s dean on July 1, 2013.

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his academic year has been an exciting one for SIPA, in part due to energy and initiatives brought

by newly appointed Dean Merit E. Janow.

Dean Janow has been a leader at SIPA for many years and, during that time, has served in important positions in the U.S. government and at major international organizations. A highly regarded expert in international trade and investment and on Asia, with extensive experience in academia, government, and business, she has also made important contributions to academic life at SIPA, Columbia Law School, and the University at large. Most recently, she served as the director of the School’s policy concentration in international finance and economic policy, and for four years she was the North American member of the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body for international dispute settlement, the highest court of appeals for trade disputes.

In her first year, Dean Janow initiated and hosted a diverse and stimulating range of events. She oversaw significant successes in fundraising, setting records as part of Columbia’s Giving Day in October and this year’s Global Leadership Awards Gala. At the same time, she launched several new academic and student-life-oriented initiatives.

In addition, the dean has initiated a multidimensional program focused on the intersection of technology and public policy, including a Dean’s Seminar Series, new courses, and the Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant, which encourages students to pursue innovative projects using digital technology and data to improve urban environments globally. SIPA has also joined with Columbia Entrepreneurship to support recent SIPA alumni in a start-up incubator space downtown.

Dean Janow presided over the launch of SIPA’s specialization in Gender and Public Policy with newly appointed specialization director Yasmine Ergas; heralded the opening in November 2013 of SIPA’s newest academic center, the Center on Development Economics and Policy, directed by Professor Eric Verhoogen; and celebrated the 10th anniversary of SIPA’s PhD Program in Sustainable Development.

We spoke with Dean Janow about why she finds SIPA compelling and what opportunities she sees for SIPA going forward.

Like many SIPA students and alumni, you grew up overseas. How does that experience frame your perspective?

My youth was spent in Asia, mostly in Tokyo, Japan. My family was based in Asia from 1941 to 1982. I feel very comfortable in an international environment; moving between cultures is something that I share with many of the students, faculty, and alumni of SIPA. My parents were civilian experts in the Occupation of Japan and then started a small engineering consulting firm in Tokyo in the 1940s, handling raw materials and fishery products from Latin America and other parts of Asia. Early on, I developed an interest in the challenges of economic globalization and the policy and business complexities associated with international trade and investment.

Those issues still fascinate me, and I feel lucky to share my enthusiasm with students here at SIPA.

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You attended both college and law school in the United States, graduating from the University of Michigan in Asian Studies and Columbia Law School, respectively. What was that like?

I chose the University of Michigan because of its strength in Asian studies and economics and because they sent a recruiter to Tokyo. After college, I worked at a think tank and co-authored a book on U.S.-Japanese trade and economic issues that analyzed Japanese industrial policies.

Although writing that first book was very rewarding, I also wanted to play an active role as a policymaker. I thought the ideal professional life would blend private, academic, and government involvement. At the same time, I did not want to spend my life in a political environment nor Washington’s revolving door between government and think tanks. So, I made the fortunate decision

to get a law degree and come to Columbia Law School. Coming to Columbia turned out to be a terrific decision.

You have had a varied career, holding positions in the public and private sector and also as a scholar. What were the high points? Do you feel more comfortable in one or another position?

After graduating from law school, I worked for a Wall Street law firm on cross-border mergers and acquisitions—night and day. After a year and a half, I was invited by the then U.S. trade representative to join her team as the deputy assistant USTR for Japan and China. The USTR is the negotiating arm of the U.S. government and also coordinates between different executive branch agencies and the Congress. It was a period of intense trade friction and negotiations between the United States and both Japan and China. To say that the experience was interesting would be a great understatement. Although I was sometimes frustrated by government service, I greatly valued engaging issues of geopolitical significance.

Returning from Washington, I was invited to join Columbia for a one-year “cooling off” period as a senior research scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. I intended to reflect on my trade experience and write about the evolving relations between the United States, China, and Japan.

I was then was offered a position as a professor of practice at SIPA, teaching at both SIPA and the law school. I felt that returning to Columbia would allow me to blend my scholarly and academic interests and remain engaged in the world. This has turned out to be true.

My experience is a microcosm of the opportunities and pursuits at SIPA and Columbia as a whole.

The ability of scholars and students to work across schools and disciplines is an important feature of the Columbia intellectual experience, and I intend to further support that.

While at Columbia, I have gone back into public service in two subsequent periods: serving as the executive director of an international antitrust

individuals are likely to have distinct phases in their careers—indeed, perhaps several different careers over the course of their professional lives—with some common underlying thread. A SIPA education supports these careers; it is one way in which we are looking ahead to prepare students for the kinds of careers they want and are likely to have.

What do you think is special about SIPA and what are your priorities for SIPA in the next few years?

advisory committee to the attorney general and assistant attorney general of the United States and then later as the North American judge on the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization.

The Appellate Body is a new multilateral institution that is working quite well. Appellate Body members were expected to exercise their best judgment on

legal questions and were otherwise left alone by the 152 governments that comprise the membership of the WTO. My ability to be both independent and open minded derives in no small measure from being an academic.

It is increasingly common for people to move between the public and private sectors, and

SIPA has an ambitious and important mission: to prepare the next generation of world leaders. The intellectual coverage and fields of study that we engage at SIPA are broad-ranging—from economics to national security to energy and sustainability, human rights, and more. We engage both the local and the global. We work with Columbia’s eight Global Centers to bring our work to an international audience, and we also bring the world to our campus.

It is not possible to capture briefly the prolific and wide-ranging contributions of SIPA faculty, but since I was appointed dean, we have celebrated the publication of new books on Afghan warlords, the broad sweep of U.S. foreign policy, and Muslim youth culture around the world. Our students and alumni are as remarkable as our faculty.

Wherever there are crucial issues around the world, you will find SIPA graduates making important contributions.

As dean of a school, my first priority is ensuring that we deliver a world-class education to our students. Second, we must attract and retain outstanding faculty to be the best at what we do.

Third, while we build on our strengths, we must look ahead. This is a leading research university, and our faculty and students are working on critical global policy questions that change and evolve, so we must as well. We must equip our students with the analytical mindset, global perspective, and substantive knowledge to solve today’s most pressing challenges—and tomorrow’s.

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SIPA DEAN’S PUBLIC POLICY CHALLENGE GRANT

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oday’s most forward-looking cities combine information and communications technology (ICT) with data to become more responsive to their citizens, more

prosperous and sustainable, safer, better educated, and healthier. From the U.S. to Brazil to Japan, initiatives in communities large and small have demonstrated that digital technology and data can help solve pressing urban problems.

As part of the growing category of Tech&Policy@SIPA, the School has launched a new competition to develop technological innovations to benefit people in urban settings worldwide.

The SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant Program invites students to design cutting-edge projects and, if appropriate, prototypes that use ICT and/or data analytics to solve urban problems. SIPA will provide workshops, mentors, and other support for teams to refine and test their ideas.

The competition is open to current Columbia students, who are encouraged to form crossdisciplinary teams that bring together students in public policy and other fields at the University such as computer science and engineering. Teams must include at least one first-year SIPA student in a substantive role.

The program seeks to support endeavors with high potential to be implemented, to produce a meaningful impact in a relatively short time frame, and to be sustainable. Complete details on the Challenge Grant can be found at sipa.columbia. edu/challenge-grant.

The Challenge Grant Program, which is a collaboration with Columbia Entrepreneurship, will consist of two competitions, one beginning

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in spring 2014 and one beginning in fall 2014.

A total of $50,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winning team or teams in each year of the competition.

Start-up support for the Challenge Grant Program has been provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale (cofounder of Palantir, and founder of Addepar, among other companies) and Juan Navarro (founder, chair, and CEO of The Exxel Group and member of the SIPA Advisory Board).

Dean Janow noted in announcing the Challenge Grant that “the intersection of technology and public policy holds great promise for both scholars and future leaders. I look forward to our students’ innovations, and I’m pleased that we are taking this exciting step as a school.”

“ The intersection of technology and public policy holds great promise for both scholars and future leaders. I look forward to our students’ innovations, and I’m pleased that we are taking this exciting step as a school.”

t e c h n o l o g y & p o l i c y @ s i pa

—Dean Merit E. Janow

SIPA Dean’s Roundtable on Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Urban Innovation

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n April 1 SIPA hosted a roundtable at which leading technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and experts in global urban policy discussed the application of digital technology and advanced data analytics to foster improvements to urban environments around the world. The event was hosted by Dean Merit E. Janow and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palantir and founder of Addepar, among other companies. Daniel Doctoroff, CEO and president of Bloomberg LLP and former deputy mayor of New York City, opened the discussion with keynote remarks. The roundtable was held in connection with the launch of the SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant Program, a collaboration with Columbia Entrepreneurship.

Top: Clockwise from right: Joe Lonsdale, Jeffrey Sachs, Daniel Doctoroff Bottom: From left: Daniel Doctoroff; Jeffrey Sachs, director, The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, professor of health policy and management; James D. Robinson III, co-founder, RRE Ventures, former CEO, American Express; Dean Janow; Joe Lonsdale; Patricia Culligan, professor of civil engineering mechanics, associate director, Institute for Data Science and Engineering, co-director, Urban Design Lab, The Earth Institute; Carter Cleveland, CEO, Artsy; Zachary Bookman, co-founder and CEO, OpenGov; Rohit Aggarwala, professor of professional practice in international and public affairs at SIPA, expert on urban sustainability

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S I P A C o m m u n i t y S e e s

Rise of Homegrown Apps

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SIPA’s diverse community now includes mobile app developers. Their advice to Fernando us: Don’t be scared of coding. ByPeinado

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lways wanted to learn how to code and never knew where to start? This is your chance to get the lowdown

from an expert.”

The online ad, which appeared last fall, announced the inaugural Seminar on Learning to Code taught by adjunct professor Sara-Jane Farmer on October 16. This initiative, sponsored by the student-run New Media Task Force (NMTF), is one more sign of the expansion of the app-creation field at SIPA. This new career path is very rapidly leaving its imprint on SIPA: competitions to create apps for development are being held, new courses dealing with digital technologies are being offered, and students are putting their ideas into practice.

Part of this interest in technology is due to market forces. The emergence of mobile-telephone applications has unleashed the potential in students interested in developing solutions. And, while much of the so-called “app economy” is devoted to applications providing games and leisure, many other apps are aimed at solving people´s needs and implementing public policies, the area of SIPA students’ expertise.

One example of the new breed of digital entrepreneurs is Ben Dean MIA ’14, creator of Zoomlocal.ly, a mobile-based platform for the Venezuelan municipality of Sucre. Dean spent the summer in Venezuela piloting his platform, which aims to provide citizens with a means to communicate with their government—about potholes or

park furniture that require repair or projects they’d like to support with community funds.

“People won´t have to go to the town hall meetings to make their voices heard,” said Dean. “They will be able to post them on the platform.”

Over the years, SIPA has updated its curriculum with the introduction of courses analyzing the policy dimensions of the technological revolution.

The number of SIPA courses dealing with technology has multiplied since 2007, when adjunct professor Anne Nelson introduced New Media and Development Communication.

“At that time it was still an unexpected offering in an international affairs curriculum,” said Nelson, who noted that student interest has since grown at an even faster pace. “Many of our students have arrived at SIPA from the tech community, and many more have landed there upon graduation.”

A new course added in the fall, Technology Initiatives in the Developing World, was taught

by Farmer and alumnus Eric Cantor MIA ’05, who since graduating has established Africa’s first mobile-phone application laboratory in Uganda.

Beyond the addition of courses, Nelson believes more resources and coordination are also required, along with careful thought as to how to structure a new curriculum.

“We are still in the early days of creating an academic environment to nurture it,” she said.

“The related courses are spread out across the Columbia campus—in engineering, journalism, urban planning, computer science, public health,

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Christina Hawatmeh MIA ’14 is the founder of Protestify, an application that aims to give more visibility to protests everywhere by aggregating photos and videos uploaded by social media users worldwide.

Working with the co-founders of mWater, an MPA-DP student team travelled to Mexico City over spring break in an effort to improve water safety.

This new career path is very rapidly leaving its imprint on SIPA: competitions to create apps for development are being held, new courses dealing with digital technologies are being offered, and students are putting their ideas into practice.

to tech innovators, creating hands-on supplements to the curriculum and holding app competitions.

On November 14, the second annual Technology for Development Pitch Competition was held at SIPA. Open to all Columbia students, participants presented to a panel of industry judges and competed to win up to $2,100 in prizes. Last year’s winner was a SIPA team that pitched Twende, an app that aims to provide Kenyan farmers with a platform to post their transportation needs.

Another important SIPA initiative, Nelson said, is a practicum currently under way in the MPA-DP program, working with the co-founders of mWater, which aims to improve water safety for millions of people. It involves flexible, low-cost water testing kits, read by a mobile-phone app and entered into an online mapping platform. The student team implemented the project in Mexico City over spring break.

“The SIPA students are both advancing the research and supporting mWater’s ability to scale,” said Nelson. “It’s a fantastic educational opportunity, because it combines the app and data collection with training and interactions with local authorities to create systemic improvements.”

and business, to start with. But SIPA and its partner programs possess a dazzling assembly of talent, ideas, and critical field experience.”

This spring 20 SIPA students enrolled in Programming for Entrepreneurs, a three-day course offered through the Business School and taught by Professor Sameer Maskey, in which they learned how to develop a web-based application.

For the next academic year, SIPA is planning a range of workshops and courses on topics including programming, data visualization, social enterprise design, technology and entrepreneurship, and computer science for policymakers and managers, said Dan McIntyre, associate dean for academic affairs.

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But a question remains as to whether SIPA students should devote time to learning skills typically taught at the Engineering School, says Anya Schiffrin, director of the International Media, Advocacy, and Communications specialization.

“There is a general dilemma—how much do you want to teach technical, practical skills and how much do you want to focus on theory and policy,” she says.

Some public policy schools, such as the University of Colorado, have introduced programs specializing in Communication Technology for Development. At SIPA, much of the initiative in this field, to date, has been student led.

The student group NTMF has been reaching out

t e c h n o l o g y & p o l i c y @ s i pa

Working for Tech Giants

SIPA’s New Media Task Force works globally with organizations such as The Earth Institute, UNICEF, OCHA, Ushahidi, and UNDP.

But do SIPA students interested in developing apps need to become experts in computer science?

Cantor says that’s a misconception, suggesting that every team working in the field needs a business leader who understands necessities but doesn’t have to be a technical person.

In Cantor’s class, students are expected to come up with an app project, but the emphasis is on the management side. Along the way, students become familiar with the sector and the acronym-heavy technology language that can be intimidating.

“There is a fear of technology that is unjustified,” he said. “If you dig in a little bit, you will demystify it.”

SIPA students interviewed for this article agreed, suggesting that basic coding skills are helpful but going on from there requires a lot of time and effort.

Christina Hawatmeh MIA ’14 is the founder of the Protestify website (weprotestify.org), which originated as an app in 2013. Protestify aims to give more visibility to protests everywhere by aggregating photos and videos uploaded by social media users worldwide.

Hawatmeh said she is in the process of hiring a data scientist because she needs an expert to deal with

photo and video coding. “My application needs a big data tool, and that is the hardest thing to create.”

Jesper Frant MPA-DP ’14, president of the New Media Task Force, said he had experience in technology and development but, in coming to SIPA, chose to focus on the management side of projects.

“I realized I was behind the game in terms of coding and wanted to spend more time developing policies,” Frant said. “Today, a 14-year-old can know more coding than I ever will.”

Dean said the technology for his Venezuela-based citizen participation application was simple enough that he didn’t need an engineer. But the skills taught at SIPA came in handy in handling challenges related to regulation, financing, and garnering support from the municipality and the public.

“The technology is like the tip of the iceberg when building a business,” Dean said. “If you concentrate just on the technology, you’ll miss the larger picture.”

Fernando Peinado MIA ’14, SIPA News editor, is concentrating in Human Rights.

Google, Facebook, and the United Nations Development Program are a few of the employers looking to hire SIPA students with tech skills. Meg Heenehan, executive director of the Office of Career Services, has noticed a rapid growth of job opportunities in the field. “It has exploded in the last three years,” she said.

Some of the alumni hired by the tech giants work in their international relations or financial analysis departments.

Nicole Jackson Colaço MIA ’09 joined Facebook in 2009 and is currently the head of public policy at Instagram. She works cross-functionally with members of the product, engineering, and operations teams to address safety, privacy, and security issues on Instagram and across the Internet.

Colaço says that SIPA, and IMAC were instrumental in helping her understand media development. “As someone fascinated by new technology—and working at Facebook/ Instagram in particular—you know that you can’t connect the world if you don’t understand how the world itself is connecting. Most people in the developing world access services through feature phones, and it’s critical that our product decisions and policies support growth in these markets.”

Jaimie Dougherty MIA ’10 is currently working as senior strategy associate at YouTube, developing the content strategies that shape YouTube’s work with partners and to make strategic investments for the platform.

Prior to that, Dougherty worked at Google’s finance department.

Dougherty said that SIPA helped her build on her previous work experience in media and technology.

“I gained practical experience with technology partners through the workshop, independent study, and student groups,” said Dougherty, who was also part of the nonprofit Ushahidi team that launched the crisis map following the 2010 Chile earthquake. “These experiences helped me understand the fast-moving nature of the tech sector and the importance of flexibility and iteration.”

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State-Sponsored Economic Espionage Is on the Rise, Strategist Says

By Fernando Peinado

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ompanies are increasingly vulnerable to the rising phenomenon of statesponsored economic espio-

nage, said Craig Mundie, a global expert on technology and public policies. Mundie, a senior executive at Microsoft, spoke about the future of technology during a fireside chat with Dean Merit E. Janow on November 8, 2013.

Mundie said that a number of governments are using their national resources to steal commercially valuable assets from another country´s businesses—with the express purpose of giving them to businesses in their own country.

“The network is international in its basic architecture, and so you cannot rely on the national law enforcement mechanisms,” Mundie said.

Mundie is widely considered a visionary expert on technology

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regulations. He has played a crucial role at Microsoft as its key strategist, working with former chairman Bill Gates to develop the company’s global strategies around technical, business, and policy issues.

He also serves in President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and is a liaison between the U.S. administration and foreign governments, including China, Russia, and India.

At the Columbia event, Mundie also warned about the threat of cyberterrorism: “People don´t really appreciate the speed and scale at which devastation of the world can be brought using cyber methods,” he said. “It is unlike anything we have ever really known before. Even nuclear and biological threats don´t propagate at the same rates and scale of impact.”

Suggesting that policymakers are not as familiar with cyberterrorism as

they are with other traditional threats, Mundie also called for more cooperation between countries. “I think governments have to come to grips with the fact that they need some ‘co-opetition,’ which means they can compete in certain areas like military espionage but they should help each other against cyberterrorists.”

Mundie also touched on personal privacy in the context of the fight against terrorism, an issue brought to the fore by recent disclosures about the United States’ massive surveillance program.

“We have to change the model away from the one that worried about knowing when data were collected and controlling how long it might be retained, which was sort of a bland instrument,” he said. He called for a regulatory frame that requires all data to be annotated at its point of origin and stored indefinitely.

Changing the Ends and Means of U.S. Foreign Policy

By Doyeun Kim

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lec Ross, who served as senior adviser for innovation under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,

disagrees with the notion that the United States’ power is in decline.

Instead, he says, it is “a loss of control”—over the media and the information environment—that is making statecraft more difficult for the United States and other nations.

“The 24/7 news cycle has disrupted the public’s perception of foreign policy,” said Ross at a February 19 conversation with Dean Merit E. Janow on the role of technology in diplomacy, the first of his three talks this semester in the series “Tech & Policy@SIPA.” In the 1970s, he explained, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger had the ability to frame a narrative through a few storytellers and media outlets. Today, in contrast, we are losing control over the narrative of statecraft as technology makes it more difficult to have interactions without potential leaks.

“Formal interactions between sovereign nation-states have never been more difficult and less consequential than today,” Ross said.

While diplomacy is traditionally deliberated behind closed doors, he said such discussions are almost impossible today, because of the diminished control of nation-states and the increasing weight of nonstate actors.

Ross cited events in Egypt to illustrate a loss of control over networks of interlocutors. Recent U.S. foreign policy in Egypt was rooted in the outdated idea that ministers and generals were the main point of contact, he said. U.S. diplomats failed

to engage with the drivers of change who were outside this elite group.

Based on this declining control by nation-states, Ross predicted that the “zeal to surveil” would result in an environment in which “privacy as we know it will be nonexistent in 10 years.”

That is, he said, pointing to the audience, “unless you solve it.”

As technology is sure to rapidly become more sophisticated, laws and regulations need to meet its rise. Ross stressed that it is up to citizens to set up norms and govern the use of technology, rather than be governed by technology.

Based on his observations working behind the scenes of U.S. foreign policy, Ross made two more predictions on how technology will continue to affect states.

He said the conversion of currency to code will challenge traditional finance systems, and that in two years there will be at least $100 billion worth of cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin in circulation. The existence of a currency not rooted in state sovereignty will facilitate capital flight from certain countries and affect transnational commerce.

Finally, he said, future cyberconflicts could likely rise between

corporations and states, rather than between states. A cyberattack on Google by the Chinese military, for example, might prompt a counterattack from Google. At present, such a response would be restrained

by Google’s ties to its home government.

Ross, who served as a senior fellow at SIPA in spring 2014, discussed “Breakthrough Innovation and Global Growth” with Jan Svejnar on March 25, and “The Geopolitics of Cyber” with Anya Schiffrin on March 31.

Doyeun Kim MIA ’14 is concentrating in Human Rights.

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Arvind Panagariya:

Business as Antidote for Indian Poverty

By Marcus Tonti

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rvind Panagariya traveled to India in early March, a trip he takes several times each year. The occasion this time was to take part in the India Today Conclave 2014,

an annual conference sponsored by one of the country’s leading magazines. To an outsider examining the program, it looks like a combination of the World Economic Forum at Davos and the South

by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, bringing together politicians, scholars, businessmen, cultural figures, Bollywood stars, and more.

It’s no surprise that Panagariya participated in a discussion there entitled “High Growth or High Dole: What Comes First?” India’s economic growth is a subject he’s both extremely passionate and extremely knowledgeable about, a subject that’s occupied him for many years.

The topic has kept him in the news as well.

His most recent book, Why Growth Matters (written with Jagdish Bhagwati, a University Professor at Columbia and a longtime collaborator), has received good notices since its publication in April 2013. Among other highlights, the Financial Times selected it as one of the best books of the year and Columbia Business School awarded it the annual Eccles Prize, which honors excellence in writing on economics. A paperback edition was released in early April.

The essence of the book’s argument is that economic growth is, by far, the single best strategy to help India’s poor and by extension to help fuel India’s success as a country. But this is not a universally-held belief, and Panagariya and Bhagwati have taken turns in the spotlight arguing against opposing views. (The most prominent scholar on the other side is the Nobel Prize–winning economist Amartya Sen, who says India must focus first on the well-being of its people and especially its hundreds of millions of poor.)

The debate—at its core, whether business or social programs do a better job improving the living standards of the most people—should ring a bell with citizens of the United States and other

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nations, too. In India, Panagariya explains, it’s part of a debate that goes back to at least the 1930s, when the possibility of independence from the United Kingdom loomed on the horizon.

“The idea of growth versus social programs is a kind of shorthand,” he says, one that in the United States is characterized as right versus left. But India’s overall political climate, observes Panagariya, is well to the left of the United States, and so is the center of the debate there.

“We all agree that social programs aimed at helping the poor directly are very important,” he continues. “The debate is how much you emphasize growth. We think it’s absolutely central—we think it directly benefits the poor, and generates jobs, health care, and revenues for the government.”

Although India has occupied much of his attention in recent years—Fareed Zakaria called Panagariya’s 2008 book, India: The Emerging Giant, “the definitive book on the Indian economy”—the 61-year-old Panagariya considers himself first and foremost a trade economist. In a casual discussion, he offers quick opinions on various trade matters—negotiations over the TransPacific Partnership, the likelihood that future efforts to liberalize trade will focus on services, not goods; the importance of U.S. leadership on trade and President Obama’s failure to lead the process of multilateral trade liberalization via the Doha Round of negotiations sufficiently.

Indeed, since arriving at SIPA 10 years ago, he has taught a course on international trade each year, examining issues like comparative advantage, tariff policy, the World Trade Organization and free trade agreements, multilateralism versus bilateralism, trade openness and growth, trade policy in developing countries, and more.

Students in his class on trade, Panagariya says, come mainly from the MPA and MIA programs.

He says another class he teaches regularly—Indian Economy in Transition—draws students additionally from PEPM, the MPA-DP program, from the School

of Public Health, and elsewhere at Columbia.

“I love teaching students. I absolutely love it,” he says. “There is no reason to be at a university if you’re not interested in teaching. You can do research at an institute, but the interaction with students is why you’re at a university.

You train the students and you learn from the students—it’s an absolutely essential part of continuous learning in life.”

Panagariya has been doing just that, teaching, for most of the past 35 years. A native of Jaipur, India, he came to the United States to pursue his doctorate and earned a PhD in economics from Princeton in 1978, at age 26. He spent most of the next 25 years at the University of Maryland in College Park, serving for four years in that span at the World Bank and a year as chief economist at the Asian Development Bank. Over the years he has worked in various capacities at international bodies like the World Bank, IMF, and UNCTAD. Looking ahead to the next few years— Panagariya recently put the finishing touches on a book that focuses on three of India’s most economically successful regions, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat. The volume is undergoing academic review now and could be published by the end of the calendar year. This follows up on his overview study of Indian states titled State Level Reforms, Growth and Development in Indian States, to be published in June 2014.

Panagariya looks forward to establishing a permanent endowed Center on Indian Economic Policies at SIPA dedicated to India’s economy.

And, of course, he wants to see how India’s spring elections turn out—and, even more importantly, whether a new prime minister will pursue the policies he favors. Whatever happens, it seems likely that Panagariya will be paying close attention, continuing to make the case that growth matters.

“ I love teaching students, I absolutely love it. There is no reason to be at a university if you’re not interested in teaching.

You can do research at an institute, but the interaction with students is why you’re at a university. You train the students and you learn from the students—it’s an absolutely essential part of continuous learning in life.”

—Arvind Panagariya

Marcus Tonti is editorial director in SIPA’s Office of Communications and External Relations.

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From left: Merit E. Janow; Martin Wolf; and Jan Svejnar, James T. Shotwell Professor of Global Political Economy, director, Center on Global Economic Governance

the Eurozone Will Remain an

Unhappy

Marriage

By Fernando Peinado

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he eurozone is a marriage in crisis, according

to economics commentator Martin Wolf.

“It’s just good enough to live with but not good enough to be happy about,” he said, analyzing prospects for the 17 countries that share the euro currency. “Divorce remains a possibility until the existing crisis resolves, and a truly good marriage seems to me at the moment very remote.”

Wolf, an associate editor and chief economics commentator for the Financial Times, gave SIPA’s 2013 Investcorp Lecture on International Finance and Business, cosponsored by the Center on Global Economic Governance, on October 22.

Wolf said that further adjustments will have to be made for the bad marriage to continue. The eurozone countries need to agree on a “minimum federal union,” which would include some big reforms, including some sort of banking union and a safety net for countries dealing with crises, he added.

Wolf noted that the structural adjustments made by some of the countries that are in the most trouble are showing results, in particular the “massive” improvements in productivity of Spain and Ireland. The adjustment process has begun but will be long and slow.

“These countries are adjusting in the context of a stagnant economy and that is not much help,” he said, referring to still-poor Eurozone demand.

Continuing with his metaphor, Wolf said if the

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marriage manages to stay together, the Eurozone will become stable but not very dynamic. Since Germany has the upper hand on policies, the Eurozone as a whole will resemble a bigger but weaker version of Germany itself. “Germany, like Japan, is a country that has absorbed completely the notion that stability is the higher goal of policy,” he noted.

Wolf said he believes a breakup of the Eurozone is not inconceivable but is quite unlikely due to the deep motivations and interests of its members. Many people in the weaker economies see Europe as a solution to long-standing, deepseated problems, and alternatives such as isolation are not attractive.

“If you talk privately to Italian, Spanish, Irish, or Portuguese people, they will all have powerful cultural, political, and economic reasons” to be part of the European project, he said.

Germans, even though they dislike the prospect of writing off the Euro project, also disregard other alternatives, Wolf suggested. He said German industrial and financial sectors would have to suffer a painful adjustment (in the event of a breakup), and the Eurozone satisfies Germany´s historical goal.

“Germany has got what it wanted: a stable democracy surrounded by peaceful and stable democracies, and it has the single most important voice in this conglomeration.”

Denis Morozov: Supporting Democracy and Market Economy in Russia

By Fernando Peinado

S

IPA helped Denis Morozov in making a successful transition to the public sector after more than two

decades working for Russian private companies. While still a student at SIPA, Morozov PEPM ’11 was appointed by then Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin as a board member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), representing Russia.

Before that Morozov had served as president and chief executive officer of Norilsk Nickel, Russia’s largest metals and mining company, and president and chief executive officer of Uralkali, the world’s largest potash producer.

Now living in London, where the EBRD’s headquarters are located, Morozov spends much of his time visiting the projects funded by the bank.

“Traveling is one of my hobbies, and my job provides me with enormous opportunities to travel,” he says.

Founded in 1991, the EBRD is a multilateral development bank (MDB) tasked with fostering the transition of countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union from a centrally planned to a market economy as well as promoting private and entrepreneurial initiatives. It has subsequently expanded its mandate to Mongolia, Turkey, and, recently, to North Africa and the Middle East and now covers 34 countries of operations.

Morozov says that one of the most interesting aspects of working for EBRD is the vast geographic scope covered by the bank, from

Morocco to Russia and from Poland to Tajikistan. “EBRD is probably the most experienced investor in this part of the world, where it provides both debt and equity financing as well as technical assistance to its clients,” Morozov says.

Since its creation, the EBRD has invested US$118.2 billion in 3,944 projects with a total value of US$352.3 billion. In Russia, during the last five years the EBRD’s financing supported the creation of Moscow’s financial center; the modernization of Pulkovo airport in Saint Petersburg; and the Russian Railways’ energy efficiency programs, among other projects.

Helping to support Russia’s transition to the market economy and the promotion of democracy, the PEPM alum says he feels fulfilled at his job.

Born in Vienna, where his Russian father worked for the United Nations, Morozov later moved with his family to the Soviet Union. In addition to his PEPM degree, Morozov holds a BA in

economics and a JD from Moscow State University as well as a PhD in economics from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. He also completed an Advanced Management program at the Harvard Business School.

Morozov is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and has received numerous awards.

Morozov says the experience of serving at an international organization will help him develop a set of skills and opportunities for selfeducation that will be useful for his future career.

“Every day I learn a lot about our countries of operations, different industries, transition challenges, best business practices, etc. It helps me expand my horizons, and I am sure that these kinds of skills are priceless and will be demanded in the future either in the public or private sector, in Russia or internationally.”

Morozov is using his SIPA education extensively in his work. He says that the global perspective the PEPM program gave him has proven very useful for his current position.

“SIPA is a truly international environment, and PEPM is a unique program because the class is quite small, and people are mid-career, so it gives you a wide overview and better understanding of the challenges they have faced in the modern world.”

He remembers fondly the time he spent at SIPA. “At first it was a strange experience to sit in the class after running multi-billion-dollar businesses, but after some adjustment, I enjoyed it a lot. I loved SIPA, PEPM, and NYC; it was the best time of my life.”

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Japanese Ambassador Sees Momentum for Trade Agreement with U.S.

By Jenna Barzelay MlA ’15

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IPA Dean Merit E. Janow welcomed the Honorable Kenichiro Sasae, Japan’s ambassador to the United States, for a stimulating lecture and conversation on “Japan

and the World,” part of the Dean’s Lecture Series.

The February 18 event was cosponsored by SIPA, the APEC Study Center, and Columbia Business School’s Center on Japanese Economy and Business.

Introducing the ambassador, Dean Janow noted his illustrious career in government service, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various Japanese embassies abroad to his appointment as ambassador to the United States in November 2012, and recalled their work together in the 1990s while she was deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for Japan and China.

Ambassador Sasae began his talk by describing the difficulties regarding trade and investment issues between the United States and Japan during the 1990s. The United States was at the tail end of the Cold War, and its economy was not doing well. Meanwhile, the Japanese economy was very strong—though in retrospect Ambassador Sasae believed this perception was misleading, as evidenced by the subsequent two decades of stagnation.

Ambassador Sasae recalled that President Clinton wanted Japan to open up its markets, which created tensions between Tokyo and Washington, primarily on the issues of trade and automobiles. Both issues remain sticking points in U.S.-Japan trade today and are currently being debated in the context of the proposed

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Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Ambassador Sasae stated that, on the whole, trade and economic relations between the United States and Japan have matured and stabilized.

Relatedly, Ambassador Sasae addressed “Abenomics,” the economic policies of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Japan has had positive economic growth for consecutive quarters, a rare event. Ambassador Sasae sees the future of “Abenomics” as a move toward a more flexible market, which is what the economy needs.

Commenting further on the TPP, he stated that the prime minister is heralding the pact as an important strategic tool to galvanize growth and a more robust foreign policy. Once reluctant to join TPP, Japan is now actively engaged. TPP will be the leading exercise to show the world that there are new rules that govern trade, Sasae said.

Public support in the United States and member countries is also key to maintaining momentum for the TPP’s passage, he added. The TPP is strategically important as a means to ensure an American presence in the Asia-Pacific.

Ambassador Sasae asserted that including China within the context of the TPP would encourage its leadership to be more transparent. With this kind of economic partnership, mutual trust would follow and aid in security and political partnerships.

Jenna Barzelay MIA ’15 is concentrating in International Finance and Economic Policy with a specialization in Management.

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BRICS T h e R o ad A h e ad “ Middle-income countries seeking to reach the next stage of development can no longer simply import or imitate existing technologies or capabilities; they must build their own. This requires a robust institutional framework—including, for example, a strong education system, well-developed financial markets, and advanced infrastructure— that encourages innovation and can support complex supply chains.”

By Dariela Sosa

—Otaviano Canuto former vice president and senior adviser at the World Bank 1 8 SIPA N EWS

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From left: Otaviano Canuto, Loy Pires, Ann Lee, Marcos Troyjo, Atsi Sheth, Ivan Isakov, Fernando Sotelino

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t the most recent annual BRICLab conference on March 6, speakers convened at Columbia to discuss how Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are pre-

paring for their sixth Summit of Heads of State, which will be held in Fortaleza, Brazil, this July.

Scholars and businesspeople gathered for the discussion that examined the economic performance of BRICS amid growing skepticism toward emerging markets and the potential convergence between advanced and developing economies.

Participants also weighed in on the prospects for the BRICS Development Bank (agreed to last year in Durban) and what these five nations should accomplish in order to increase their economic clout and contribute further to global growth.

Marcos Troyjo, BRICLab’s co-director and an adjunct professor of international and public affairs at SIPA, gave welcoming remarks. The speakers who followed agreed on the need of BRICS countries to have a specific agenda and institutions based on common interests.

Among the guests was Otaviano Canuto, former vice president and senior adviser at the World Bank, who discussed growth opportunities, the relationship between technology productivity, the emerging middle class, and commodities prices.

“Middle-income countries seeking to reach the next stage of development can no longer simply import or imitate existing technologies or capabilities; they must build their own,” he said. “This requires a robust institutional framework—including, for example, a strong education system, well-developed financial markets, and advanced infrastructure—that encourages innovation and can support complex supply chains.”

Fernando Sotelino, an adjunct professor of international banking and financial institutions at SIPA, focused on what he considered the most critical milestone in economic development for any emerging economy: a functional financial system, capable of providing long-term credit in domestic currency and affordable interest rates.

Atsi Sheth, vice president and senior credit

officer for Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group, began her presentation by asking what India’s government has done to aggregate the interests of the 800 million people in India who are eligible to vote.

She suggested that India is vulnerable but does have some hidden advantages; its outlook depends on policy measures. “For India, growth is not automatic,” she said. “Macroeconomic balance must be maintained. Infrastructure and human capital have to be improved.”

Ann Lee, an adjunct professor of economics and finance at New York University, pointed out that China has developed a huge industrial base and strong trade ties with countries all over the world.

“Surpassing the U.S., China became the most trading nation in the world,” she indicated. Lee also remarked that China’s reserve currency is able to give credibility to the proposed BRICS Development Bank.

Ivan Isakov, managing partner for Crown Point Equity LLC, discussed governance challenges that Russia should face to diversify the economy: “Even if the balance sheet is still strong, slow GDP growth numbers will go up only if Russia improves its rule of law and institutional environment.”

Similarly, Loy Pires, senior manager at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank group, asserted that BRICS countries that do well will have their people asking for more governance and transparency. He also highlighted the flourishing of the private sector of BRICS, the income effect, and the strong demands coming from the emerging middle class. According to him, growth opportunities for BRICS will depend on changes in the working population of these countries, percentage of people moving into the middle class, and willingness to reform.

Dariela Sosa MPA ’14 is concentrating in Economic and Political Devleopment.

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Promise of Gender Equality Is within Reach, Says UN Women Deputy Director

By Fernando Peinado “The global struggle for gender equality is experiencing a historical moment,” said Dan Seymour, deputy director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), speaking at a well-attended forum on “Gender in International Affairs: From Promise to Practice.”

The December 3 event marked both the launch of SIPA’s new Gender and Public Policy specialization and the publication of the latest volume of the Journal of International Affairs, which is devoted to gender issues.

Seymour, who delivered the keynote address, said the world has seen significant progress in the fight for women’s rights, as demonstrated by the increasing number of female politicians and legislation that criminalizes violence against women and girls.

“We see in every sphere a degree of improvement, even if the result in some areas is a downturn,” he said.

“But still, for every step backwards there are two steps forward.”

Seymour credited the launch of the specialization and the creation of UN Women in 2010 as two more signs of the increasing relevance of gender equality at the academic and policy levels.

A panel discussion followed with Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the women’s division of Human Rights Watch, Kate Gilmore, deputy executive director of UNFPA, Katherine Phillips of Columbia Business School, and Dorian Warren of SIPA and Columbia’s political science department.

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SIPA’s New Specialization: Gender and Public Policy

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he issue of gender and policy is of increasing interest to governments and corporations, NGOs and international organizations, as well as to scholars and students

around the world. How can public policies promote more equitable gender relations? How is gender equity—or equality—understood in different contexts, and how can the effects of policies be evaluated from the perspective of gender relations?

To address this important dimension of public policy, SIPA added a new specialization in Gender and Public Policy to the MIA and MPA programs in fall 2013. Yasmine Ergas, a lecturer at SIPA and associate director of the Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR), is serving as the specialization’s inaugural director.

The specialization’s curriculum focuses on gender in relation to human rights, development, international finance, labor markets, and leadership—fields in which SIPA students concentrate. It will enable students to develop the skills to assess, formulate, and implement policies that promote greater gender equality.

Dean Merit E. Janow praised the addition to the MIA and MPA programs. “Gender issues are an important consideration in contemporary public policy,” said Janow. “Elevating the study of gender and policy to the specialization level gives our students an opportunity to deepen the expertise they will bring to private companies, public-sector agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.”

The new specialization evolved out of SIPA’s cocurricular program in gender policy and in response to strong student demand. Working with faculty members, students did considerable background work and then presented a request to the faculty and deans.

“It was hugely rewarding to work with supportive faculty and the administration as part of the Gender Policy Working Group to introduce the Gender and Public Policy specialization. As students

through the lens of gender

we had a very influential role in the design of the program—real policy in action,” said Branwen Millar MIA ’14, the specialization’s departmental research assistant.

The specialization also draws on the resources in gender studies throughout the University—at the interdisciplinary Institute for Research on Women and Gender; the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School; and programs at the

Yasmine Ergas

Mailman School of Public Health, Teachers College, the Medical Center, and Barnard College.

“I’m very excited about the launching of the specialization, and I know students are excited, too,” Ergas said. “We have a terrific opportunity to create a specialization that meets the needs of students as they prepare to become leaders in a policymaking world that has become increasingly attuned to issues of gender, and that we would like to see remain so.”

From left: Merit E. Janow, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Alison Wolf, Debora Spar

SIPA on Women, Work, and What’s Next

By Sara Ray

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t’s possible to have a child and a job, but can one really have a child and a career? On October 31, 2013, members of the Columbia community filled a large conference room for

a lively panel discussion on the challenges facing professional parents and caregivers—especially women—today. Dean Merit E. Janow moderated the panel, which included Anne-Marie Slaughter, president and CEO of the New America Foundation and author of “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” (The Atlantic, July/August 2012) and The Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World; Debora Spar, president of Barnard College and author of Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection; and Alison Wolf, professor of public sector management at King’s College London and author of The XX Factor: How the Rise of Working Women Has Created a Far Less Equal World.

In her introduction, Dean Janow pointed out

that each panelist had made her career in an arena not focused on gender, but each eventually came to write a major publication on the ways that gender influenced her professional life. The panel was particularly relevant to SIPA, which recently launched a new Gender and Public Policy specialization, intended to train professionals to tackle issues of gender policy.

One of the issues raised at the event was whether gender was indeed the key factor in creating family-friendly policies. Debora Spar recalled frequently being asked to “solve the women’s problem” during her time working at Harvard Business School. “What it forced me to realize,” Spar said, “is that there really was a women’s problem and that I had no idea how to solve it.”

Alison Wolf encouraged the audience to reflect on whether one could speak of women as a unified group so simply. “With a world where there are so many successful, professional women,” she said, “it makes less and less sense to talk

about ‘women.’” Anne-Marie Slaughter offered a perspective in which the workplace was a culprit.

Describing her own experiences as a career-driven woman with a family, she said, “I suddenly looked at many, many, many of my friends who had made different choices along the way and saw . . . a system in which they wanted to be with their families and their jobs did not allow them to fit the two together. So I suddenly saw it not as a women’s problem but as a work problem.”

Whether workplaces and policies designed for single breadwinner families can be updated for a two-breadwinner workforce remains to be seen.

With the new Gender and Public Policy specialization, however, SIPA is poised to bring new energy and attention to these issues.

Sara Ray is an administrative assistant in SIPA’s Office of Communications and External Relations.

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jessamyn w. rodriguez

Baker, Entrepreneur, and Advocate

By Valle Aviles Pinedo

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hile working for the United Nations and other NGOs in developing countries in the early 2000s, Jessamyn W. Rodriguez, who was born and raised in Canada,

realized how many women made a living by cooking and baking. After immigrating to the United States, however, these women faced considerable difficulties gaining access to a baking industry dominated mostly by men. Rodriguez realized that the career prospects for these immigrant women were gloomy and that their language limitations and the cultural assimilation process made them more likely to be marginalized.

Since then, she has made it a point to help them.

Rodriguez graduated from SIPA in 2004 with a master’s degree in public administration and immigration policy. “SIPA and New York are an excellent place to do networking, and some of the classes I took at Columbia, such as accounting, finance, or management, became very useful for my career,” Rodriguez said in an interview with SIPA News.

At that time, she was already thinking about creating her own social enterprise. “I had had the idea in my head for 10 years, but I tried a more traditional career path. Two years after I graduated from SIPA, I decided to make it a reality,” she said.

“I realized though that my company wouldn’t be successful if I didn’t first learn how to bake.”

Rodriguez earned a master baking certificate at the New School University and became an apprentice at the Michelin-starred Restaurant Daniel in New York. In 2008 she finally founded Hot Bread Kitchen (HBK), a nonprofit organization based in Harlem that combines her passion for baking and social justice and trains immigrant low-income women for a career in the food industry.

The paid training program is mainly focused on bread-baking skills but also includes Englishlanguage classes, computer studies, and professional development support. Once they graduate from the program, women find other jobs in the baking industry or start their own businesses.

So far, HBK has trained 45 women from 17 different countries. The goal is training 80 every year in New York City. “I am always proud when I see them completing the training and professionalizing their skills,” Rodriguez said, adding that the company also hires some of these graduates.

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From left: Jessamyn Rodriguez and an employee at work in Hot Bread Kitchen

“Many of the managers that we have hired internally are graduates from our training program, and this is a big success for us. The woman that manages the production of our tortillas, for example, graduated from our program, and before the training she didn’t have any real professional experience. But now Nancy Mendez, from Mexico, is one of our most valuable staff members and a great inspiration for all of us,” she said.

Besides increasing the economic security of immigrant women, Rodriguez is trying to change the face of the baking industry and educate New Yorkers about the important contributions of immigrant communities. To defray part of the cost of the training program, the organization sells the artisanal multiethnic bread that trainees bake. These breads reflect their countries of origin and are sold in restaurants, markets, and grocery stores across the country.

HBK recently raised more than $47,000 from individual donors through a crowd-sourced campaign to build a scholarship fund and support the training program.

Since 2011, the organization has also run a kitchen incubator and a business development program. A 2,300-square-foot commercial kitchen allows entrepreneurs and small businesses to start

through the lens of gender

producing while receiving advice and support on how to scale up, acquire licenses, or develop marketing and accounting strategies.

Rodriguez has won several awards in the last few years, including the 2013 Global Citizen Award, awarded by the Clinton Global Initiative, for her leadership in the private sector. “I was not aware I was being considered for the award. We had won some awards in New York in the past, but being recognized internationally was quite surprising and an honor,” she said.

Rodriguez taught Capital and Growing Social Ventures at SIPA last year with Professor John Walker, and she is hoping to “come back and teach at Columbia sometime soon.”

Rodriguez said she loves the enterprising character of SIPA students, and she has advice for those interested in launching their own enterprises: “Entrepreneurship is a struggle, and it is very challenging. You may have a good idea, but you should take your time to think through all the challenges. The key is not rushing.”

Valle Aviles Pinedo MIA ’14 is concentrating in Human Rights.

Women Encouraged to Pursue Careers in Energy

“Y

ou need two things in life: a sponsor and a mentor.” This was one of several insights from Lady Barbara Judge, CBE, to 15 diverse women

students from across the Columbia community.

Lady Judge’s talk on January 30—the inaugural event in the Center on Global Energy Policy’s Women in Energy (WIE) program—included an enthusiastic question-and-answer session and covered a broad range of challenges that confront women who are looking to have an impact in energy-related careers.

A trained commercial lawyer with both British and U.S. citizenship, Lady Judge has had an usually broad and distinguished international career as a senior executive, chair, and nonexecutive director in both the private and public sectors, including service as the youngest appointed commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Just prior to the WIE event, Lady Judge—who is also former chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and currently deputy chair of Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Nuclear Reform and Monitoring Committee (as well as the head of its nuclear safety task force)—gave a public lecture

on “Nuclear after Fukushima: Policies, Practices and Problems.” Lady Judge discussed the state of nuclear policy following the Fukushima accident, how Fukushima has affected global nuclear policy, and whether nuclear power will remain an important and viable part of the global energy mix. Dean Merit E. Janow introduced Lady Judge, and Center director Jason Bordoff moderated a discussion following the presentation.

Given the multidisciplinary nature of energy, many participants felt it was a valuable chance to develop relationships across schools and sectors early on in their careers. Lady Judge’s clear perspective on the challenges that women face building a professional career inspired female students from SIPA, the College, Engineering, and other Columbia schools.

“Lady Judge is a great example of how women can emerge as leaders in the energy industry,” said participant Celine Rottier, a SIPA MIA student and former offshore technologist for the Spanish oil company Repsol. “There are too few success stories today. In an industry that is thirsty for talent, as Lady Judge pointed out, women around the world should seize the opportunity to unleash their potential and lead boldly and decisively.”

Yinghuang Ji, a PhD candidate in earth and environmental engineering, echoed this sentiment: “Her stories and perspectives inspired me a lot and also made me more confident in pursuing a career path in energy. I would definitely recommend this kind of event to other students and would like to participate more in the future.”

In recognizing the limited number of women in energy and energy-related fields, especially in senior-level positions, the Center on Global Energy Policy intends for the Women in Energy program to help fill a fundamental gap for female students who wish to pursue careers in the energy sector.

The Center plans to host additional events, giving students the opportunity to interact with senior women role models, as well as with one another, while also expanding the program to include direct mentorship and career opportunities.

“We hope that the students who participated can help serve as early ambassadors for our WIE program,” said Jason Bordoff, CGEP’s founding director. “This is very much a program for the students, and we want it to grow and evolve in a way that is most beneficial for them.”

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PhD in Sustainable Development Celebrates 10 Years

By Kate Offerdahl

M

ore than a decade ago, some of Columbia’s most distinguished faculty had the idea to create a PhD program that was unlike those offered at any

other university. This program would be interdisciplinary and focus on training scholars to find collaborative solutions to some of the world’s most challenging sustainable development problems. It would also represent an innovative partnership between two renowned Columbia institutions—the School of International and Public Affairs and The Earth Institute—and thus introduce a new level of rigor to the study of social, natural, and economic issues.

“We wanted to create a PhD program that was brand-new and cutting-edge, that would ask better questions, and that would provide us with a deeper understanding to really address global issues,” said

Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute.

With an event to mark its 10th anniversary, Columbia celebrated this spring semester the success of its groundbreaking PhD in Sustainable Development. The program’s students, alumni, and faculty came together in Low Memorial Library on February 27, 2014, to honor what a great first decade the program has had.

“I couldn’t be prouder, knowing what our students are doing,” said Sachs, who serves as co-director of the PhD in Sustainable Development program. “The program has made possible integrative and innovative ways to look at these problems, and we have learned a lot.”

To some, the anniversary event represented the championing of a program whose rationale many had questioned over the years.

Participants celebrate the 10-year anniversary of SIPA’s PhD in Sustainable Devbleopment.

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“Ten years ago, people were worried about how the program would take shape,” said Eyal Frank, a second-year Sustainable Development PhD student. “The University took a big risk.”

Such an interdisciplinary approach, balancing study in both the social and life sciences, is rare for doctoral programs, which often stay within established disciplinary bounds. Columbia Provost and former SIPA dean John H. Coatsworth described the initial hesitancy of the administration considering establishing the PhD program. “We questioned students being interested, students being hired, and students surviving its rigor,” he explained in remarks at the February 27 event.

But the concept of sustainable development, which attempts to find solutions to complex international environmental, social, and economic problems,

demands this level of rigor and interconnected study.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, University Professor and codirector of the PhD in Sustainable Development, spoke to the program’s multidisciplinary foundations. “We have to cross boundaries to address some of the most pressing issues today, and we need a whole variety of skills that aren’t normally taught in PhD programs,” he said.

Crossing boundaries to find solutions is exactly what the PhD in Sustainable Development students are doing, and they are producing impressive results.

Three program alumni, all now employed at top U.S. universities, were invited to the anniversary event to present on the cutting-edge research projects that had begun in Columbia’s halls. One recent graduate, Solomon Hsiang, had his research on the long-term social effects of natural disasters published in the prestigious journal Nature while still a Columbia student. “Our work is informing the international climate dialogue,” he said proudly, emphasizing just how crucial the academic work of the PhD in Sustainable Development students has become to global policymakers, researchers, and citizens.

Kimberly Lai Oremus, a third-year PhD student, describes the program’s students as its best resource since its evolution in 2004. “The process

of the program has been very peer oriented,” she explained, “The students are more close-knit and collaborative in our work, because nothing has been established and we have to carve out what the important questions are.”

Lai Oremus is very thankful for the risks taken by faculty and the University to support the PhD program and make it a global leader in the academic study of sustainable development. As one in the first generation of Columbia’s most interdisciplinary scholars, she is continually looking toward the future. “We want to increase awareness of what

the PhD has done and where it is going,” she says.

“This program has truly been exceptional.”

Co-director Sachs shares this view and has big thoughts about the program’s potential. When asked how he keeps going, despite the depressing nature of the global challenges that he is studying, he had one answer: his students. “Have good students, and know that they are going to solve the problems,” he said.

PhD alumna Marta Vicarelli gave a presentation on climate impacts.

From left: John H. Coatsworth, Joseph Stiglitz, and Jeffrey Sachs

Kate Offerdahl MIA ’15 is concentrating in Energy and Environment.

“ We wanted to create a PhD program that was brand-new and cutting-edge, that would ask better questions, and that would provide us with a deeper understanding to really address global issues.”

—Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute

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Center for Development Economics and Policy Launches at SIPA

“O

ne-fifth of humanity lives on less than $1.25 per day, and two-fifths on less than $2 per day, with the frequent hunger, chronic health problems, and

everyday indignities that such poverty entails,” said Eric Verhoogen, director of SIPA’s new Center for Development Economics and Policy (CDEP).

CDEP’s mission is to support microeconomic research to investigate the sources of poverty and to inform practical interventions to address them.

“We need to understand how markets work, and so often fail to work, in developing-country settings in order to improve the outcomes that they generate for the poor,” Verhoogen said in announcing the new center.

Verhoogen, an associate professor of international and public affairs and economics, focuses his research on industrial development—applied microeconomic research on firms in developing countries—an area that overlaps with the fields of development economics, international trade, labor economics, and industrial organization. The Center’s associate director, Cristian (Kiki) Pop-Eleches, is an associate professor of international and public affairs. He is an applied empirical economist whose research area is international health and education.

The Center launched two core initiatives: the Human Capital Initiative focuses on understanding the productive potential embodied in individuals— their skills, health, and other capabilities; the Firms and Innovation Initiative is motivated by the view that one of the best antipoverty programs is a steady job at a wage sufficient to support the basic needs of a household. Such jobs are more likely to be available when an economy’s industrial sector is thriving, when firms are growing and investing in their workforces.

CDEP affiliates—among them faculty from SIPA, the Department of Economics, Columbia Business School, and other units at the University—are participating in the Center’s work and undertaking research projects as part of these initiatives.

In addition, the Center hosts a regular seminar and other events, cosponsors a brown-bag workshop for graduate students, funds promising student research, and provides an intellectual home for students and researchers at Columbia and beyond who are interested in development economics and policy.

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On November 11, CDEP and the Center on Global Economic Governance (CGEG) cohosted an event with Kaushik Basu, senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank, who spoke on “Poverty and Prosperity: The Challenges of Policymaking in a Globalized World.” The event also served as the formal launch of the new center.

In discussing the World Bank’s research on poverty and economics, Basu noted that “the World Bank has set two new goals for itself: ending extreme and chronic poverty in the world by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity by helping every country to foster income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population.”

According to Basu, promoting shared prosperity is not an agenda of redistributing an economic pie of a fixed size. Rather, the pie must be expanded continuously and shared in such a way that the welfare of those at the lower end of the income distribution rises as quickly as possible. “The World Bank’s second goal of promoting shared prosperity is important not only in itself but as an essential complement to the goal of ending poverty,” he concluded.

“It’s fitting to formalize SIPA’s commitment to this field and to establish a research center that can both promote research and contribute to training students in development economics at SIPA and Columbia more broadly,” said SIPA Dean Merit E. Janow. She added that the new center will raise the profile of SIPA as a global hub for new thinking in development economics and policy. CGEG director Jan Svejnar noted that the two centers “are coming together in complementary ways.”

Development Practice Q&A

Allison Greenberg MPA-DP ’11

By Sarayu Adeni

Allison Greenberg MPA-DP ’11 is cultivating change far from her Long Island home, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. From a university in Washington, D.C., to a presidential campaign office in Colorado, to managing international education exchange programs for the Middle East and Africa, to SIPA and beyond, she has built her technical skills and management talents to advance environmental sustainability and agricultural development at a number of levels.

What is your current position?

I’ve been with the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) for a little more than a year now. For most of that time, I was working in the analytics group with the data management and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team, and now I work with the CEO’s office on partnerships and resource mobilization. With the analytics group, I was building and managing a team of two Ethiopian analysts and a GIS expert and developing an information system using mobile technology to collect data and GPS points from the districts, or woredas.

Now, I’m developing new programs for ATA—specifically, one on how to make agricultural transformation more sustainable.

Ethiopia is better known for its famines than its farmers. Is the country making progress towards food security?

One reason I love working on food security in Ethiopia is that you can see us changing that image. My colleagues want to show the world that Ethiopia is not starving, not food insecure, and they can feed their children with food grown for and by Ethiopians. I find myself having to constantly explain to family

and friends in the United States that Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and you can see rapid development happening every day. Even more, Ethiopian food is amazing! There’s injera, a flatbread made from a grain called teff, which is native to Ethiopia; there’s a coffee culture and ceremony; there’s diet diversity; there are two “fasting” days a week, which basically means delicious vegetarian food.

Is this the kind of work you wanted to do when you were at SIPA? If you had asked me at Columbia what my dream job would be after graduation, this would have been it. It is development work with a government agency, which allows for impact that only government can bring. ATA’s pilot programs can cover close to half a million people, and scaling up means reaching millions of smallholder farmers.

What were some of your favorite classes in the MPA-DP program?

I did a MPA Capstone with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which was a great experience. We were researching corporate sustainability and interviewing sustainability officers at different companies while also interfacing with EPA initiatives.

Industrial Ecology [a course in the Engineering School] is built on Professor [Jeffrey] Sachs’s Human Ecology class but was more focused on quantifying environmental impact of human development.

What were you working on during your summer field placement in Mbola, Tanzania [a Millennium Village Project [MVP] site]?

I focused on analyzing the best management systems for the school meals programs in the village primary schools. I was interested in how the farmers were supposed to contribute to the program and how to get the food to the school. We ended up identifying some best practices for managing school meals at the village level and presenting to The Earth Institute student colloquium at the end of the year.

The project that I focused on independently was designing a multisector forest conservation plan. This particular MVP site was in a woodland area, and deforestation was an issue there. I started talking to the MVP agriculture and environment directors, asking questions, bringing together initiatives with beekeeping, nontimber value chains, carbon financing, school environmental clubs, etc. For me the most glaring thing was the tobacco industry.

[Nearly] every farmer had a tobacco plot with smokehouses to process the tobacco, which really was burning up the trees. MVP was looking at the maize production, and I ended up focusing the plan on how MVP could work with the tobacco industry on

conservation through protected areas and sustainable timber harvesting.

What were the most useful skills you developed while at SIPA? I focused more on communication and management skills, which have helped me tremendously in my jobs, while knowledge of sustainability and food systems has also prepared me to be effective in working with a wide range of technical experts. Tony Barclay’s Development Management class taught very practical and relevant skills for the work I am currently doing,

especially program development and funding. Also, as much as it pains me to say this after suffering through SIPA’s core classes, being able to tell if something is statistically significant, or understand economic analysis, is really important. There were students from my group that were stats TAs, and to this day, I still e-mail them with questions, both technical and personal.

That certainly speaks to the closeness of the MDP community.

Sarayu Adeni MPA in Development Practice ’15 is interested in youth development, education, and global media.

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Can Academics Be President?

By Valle Aviles Pinedo

S

IPA faculty Jan Svejnar and Andrés Velasco discussed the experience of running for high office in their home

countries.

Jan Svejnar and Andrés Velasco have a lot in common. Each currently teaches at SIPA, and each has tried to jump from academia to politics. In a discussion moderated by Dean Merit E. Janow, Svejnar and Velasco recalled their experiences as presidential candidates in the Czech Republic and Chile, respectively. The February 17 event was sponsored by SIPA and the Center on Global Economic Governance.

“Insufficient Czechness” Jan Svejnar ran for president of the Czech Republic in 2008, in an indirect election by Parliament.

He was endorsed by Vaclav Havel, the nation’s first president of the post-Communist era, whom Svejnar had previously advised. Svejnar lost the 2008 election to Vaclav Klaus.

Svejnar characterized Klaus as having controversial, strong views. Svejnar said he wanted to open the country to the world, bring in Western standards, implement economic reforms, and cut down corruption. At the outset, Svejnar said, Klaus had a wide lead and refused challenges to a debate—not an unusual tactic for an incumbent. But within a month Klaus and Svejnar were even in the polls, each at 34 percent.

Although Svejnar had considerable international experience, his limited recognition among Czechs proved to be a disadvantage. He said one reason he lost was because of “insufficient Czechness”; he was just 17 years old when he left what was then Czechoslovakia.

The election, however, was closer than Svejnar expected. The first ballot went three rounds and ended with neither candidate receiving the required majority. In a second election, held one week later, Klaus won on the third round, a victory Svejnar attributes in part to abstentions and crossing party lines.

The election did lead to significant change, however: Following allegations of corruption and intimidation, the Czech people demanded a

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change in the constitution, and the Czech Republic’s next presidential election will be a direct election.

For Svejnar, running for office was a “unique way to offer public service to one’s country” and to gain support for policies and reforms.

Campaigning in a Winnebago In mid-2013, Andrés Velasco ran in the primary election of Chile’s center-left coalition Jan Svejnar New Majority. The field of candidates included former president Michelle Bachelet, under whom Velasco had served as minister of finance from 2006 to 2010.

“I knew my chances were slim. I was playing against Brazil in Maracana—competing against a formidable politician who was also my boss,” Velasco said. “But what matters is to ignite debate and get ideas on the table.”

Velasco ran as an independent candidate and finished second in the primary to Bachelet, who went on to win Andrés Velasco the November presidential election. But despite the outcome, Velasco said, the campaign was “a lot of fun and the most electrifying thing” he has done.

To demonstrate the mood of his candidacy, Velasco showed a video of himself campaigning in a Winnebago. He was “taking a leaf from an old-fashioned American campaign,” he said, as he traveled throughout Chile, greeting crowds, attending festivals, shaking hands. But he also relied on more modern methods, like tweeting and putting out videos.

He also described campaigning as “by far the

hardest and most demanding” work he’d done. It was especially intellectually demanding, he said, because one had to be in command of many issues and any misstep would be reported. It was also necessary to be passionate, he said, “about your reasons for being in politics, about the change you want to bring about, about the difference you want to make.”

In concluding his remarks, Velasco asked rhetorically, “For whom did I run? For a generation, for a dream of a country in Latin America that can make it . . . and Chile has a shot at it.”

From Tracking Stocks to Hunting Criminals

By Maria José Chea

A

fter working in the financial services industry for nearly a decade, William Wechsler MPA ’93 joined the international fight against terrorism. Since

2012, he has been the deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combating terrorism, the primary lead for the department’s policies on special operations and irregular warfare.1 Wechsler graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in government and economics and came directly to SIPA to pursue a Master of Public Administration. “I made a conscious decision to do the MPA program because I thought that one of the real holes in my skill base was management, which is so important,” Wechsler says.

Aiming to land a job in the public sector, Wechsler took full advantage of the opportunities both SIPA and New York City had to offer. He did an internship at the Century Foundation, a think tank that focuses on a number of public policy issues. Later, he volunteered in the New York office of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.

“In many ways, that [experience] was incredibly important to the direction that my life has taken,” Wechsler says. “It opened the door to other opportunities.” When Clinton became president in 1993, Wechsler was invited to join his administration. Throughout his time there, he worked at the Defense Department, the White House, and the Treasury Department.

After the change in administration following the election of George W. Bush, he got a job in Connecticut at Greenwich Associates, a boutique management consulting firm that focuses on the financial services industry. Wechsler became an equity partner in the firm and management director, as well as leading the firm’s asset management practice. He planned to work in the industry for the rest of his life, but the Obama administration had other plans for him.

One day, he got a call inviting him to help on the transition efforts of the Treasury, due to the work he had done on sanctions and money laundering as special adviser to Secretary Larry Summers.

From left: former secretary of defense Leon E. Panetta with William Wechsler

“I had not planned to go back into government, but the country was at war. It is very important to defend against adversaries that are not nation-states but networks . . . to know how to defend against them, using all the tools of government, not just the tools the Defense Department can bring but how we use sanctions, diplomacy, law-enforcement, intelligence, etc.”

From then on, Wechsler worked in conjunction with the Department of Defense and later became the deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats.

Wechsler claims that there are similarities between his former and current positions. “Whether you’re going against drug cartels or criminal organizations or terrorist organization or weapons of mass destruction proliferators, you need more than the U.S. government. You need to work with partner countries to build their capacities,” he says. “We need to involve civil society, NGOs, and the private sector in a concerted effort.”

Having worked extensively in the public sector, Wechsler is familiar with the skills that are

necessary to implement projects successfully. “A lot of people in government have deep, substantive knowledge about the issues, but in reality that is about 10 percent of the job,” he notes. “Turning that expertise into action is about building coalitions within government; it’s about managing a team. To be successful, you need to build a structure so that others can be successful, other people in other agencies and in other governments.”

Wechsler says his experience at SIPA helped him prepare for the different roles and positions he has taken on after graduation. “So much of our schoolwork was done in a group. The classes, programs, and projects were not just about getting the right answer; the process was equally important.”

1. U.S. Department of Defense: http://www.defense.gov/bios/biographydetail. aspx?biographyid=205 Maria José Chea MIA ’15 is concentrating in Energy and Environment.

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Q&A: Paul Lagunes

By Marcus Tonti

Paul Lagunes, an assistant professor of international and public affairs, is a native of Mexico City who earned his BA at Duke and MA and PhD in political science at Yale, where he also spent the 2012–2013 academic year as a postdoctoral associate.

It was at Yale that he collaborated on an experiment that led to the published paper “Corruption and Inequality at the Crossroads.” The paper represented a significant step toward what has become Lagunes’s specialty—Latin American politics with a focus on corruption in urban settings. His work to date has been published in Latin American Research Review, Political Psychology, Transparency International’s Anti-Corruption Research Network, The Huffington Post, and other outlets.

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What does it mean to study corruption?

My focus is on urban corruption, especially as it affects an urban government’s civil servants. My work takes two tracks—uncovering how corruption works on the ground, and figuring out what to do about it, which includes testing mechanisms that may help fight corruption. To understand how corruption works on the ground, I’ve collaborated with two local urban governments in Mexico. High-level officials in the City of Querétaro and in the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo allowed me to gain ample access to their offices, to their people, to their processes, to their documents, and so on. Through this collaboration I was able to gather information as a participant-observer.

What have you found, generally speaking?

Some of the examples of corruption are surprising, if not depressing.

First, you find corruption all over the place—it can affect every single part of public administration, from the public cemetery where bodies were disinterred in order to reuse or resell the burial space, to turning police cars into unlicensed taxicabs. I was impressed by how many parts of government were affected.

One lesson is that corruption is entrenched because you have powerful interest groups, flawed laws, vitiated bureaucrats, a biased judicial system, and a climate of impunity.

This last one is particularly important, because corruption is seldom punished. At most a corrupt official will be fired, but even that tends to be the exception, which takes me to the study I conducted in Querétaro, a two- or three-hour drive from Mexico’s Federal District.

What happened there?

To prove their effectiveness, anticorruption agencies worldwide tend to rely on things like the number of officials who are sanctioned or penalized in some way. That’s an imperfect strategy, because we don’t know what the universe of corrupt cases is—what percent of the corrupt officials they represent.

In Querétaro, the question was: What role can monitoring have in fighting corruption? I used a field experiment or randomized control trial to test two versions of the world. In one version, officials know they are being monitored by an independent observer, who’s there to investigate corruption activity, and in another version they don’t know the monitor is in place. This model gives us a glimpse into what the world looks like when we have anticorruption agencies at work, versus when we do not.

There’s an added twist to my work.

I show how effective monitoring is with and without the possibility of punishment. The findings suggest that transparency, public scrutiny, even shaming is not enough—watchful eyes must be paired with a cracking whip. If you look at Mexico, India, Brazil, Peru, which are democracies weighed down by corruption, relying on transparency has not been enough.

What’s missing is frying the big fish.

Do your findings make you at all optimistic or pessimistic?

It can get depressing, with some of the things you find. As a researcher you don’t want to grow too thick a skin so that these things stop impressing you. Fortunately, they still have an effect on me. I’m interested in the abuse of public trust, so if a police officer is supposed to regulate traffic and fight crime, I’m concerned when that doesn’t happen because he’s pocketed a bribe. When an

official is supposed to regulate construction so buildings are safe, but he doesn’t because of corruption, then I know we have a major problem.

These are abuses of public trust that I care about. I’m conditionally optimistic as long as civil society—the press, academia, and the public—maintains sensitivity to corruption and protests it and demands that things move on the right path. But right now I feel that fight is vulnerable.

Do you feel like you’re making a difference? Are you worried about contributing to a bad image for your hometown?

I generally don’t single individual people out—that’s for law enforcement agents. My job is figuring out what’s wrong with the system. I think that’s a contribution to the fight against corruption.

As for Mexico City, I think everyone should visit—it’s culturally rich, it’s cosmopolitan, it’s a wonderful city in many ways. But it has these issues. Because I love Mexico City, I think you seek to help it surpass its limitations.

You’re in the middle of your first year at SIPA. How do you like being here and living in New York City?

I’m happy to call this place my new community. I really appreciate the students—their background, their international profile, their motivation.

They are really interesting people. I also like that the faculty and administrators have a human side. Mexico City often looks to New York as an example, so it’s nice to be here and see how the city works and live in it.

To be honest, I haven’t had enough time to enjoy it yet, but it’s great to live in the capital of the world. And the view from my office is inspiring.

—Condensed and edited from an interview on January 10, 2014

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Dipali Mukhopadhyay: Showing the Human Side of Afghan Warlords

By Melissa Mayers

A

s comfortable in the company of Afghan warlords as she is in front of a classroom, Professor Dipali Mukhopadhyay brings a wealth of fascinating experi-

ences to SIPA. Her research on warlords and

a political career. In fact, many candidates for the Afghan presidency and vice presidency are former warlords, including one whom she studied and interviewed, Gul Agha Sherzai, former governor of Nangarhar province.

armed groups—the subject of her recent book Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan—goes back to her undergraduate days at Yale, where she majored in political science and studied the role of non-state armed actors in humanitarian crises. Then, while studying Operation Restore Hope, the 1992–93 U.S.-led humanitarian operation in Somalia, she became interested in the long-term political consequences of short-term interventions: the U.S. military and diplomats had to negotiate with Somali warlords to gain access to areas in need of humanitarian aid.

She began to draw parallels between Somalia and the U.S military response in Afghanistan.

In this case, the U.S. negotiated with Afghan warlords to form a partnership that would lead to the overthrow of the Taliban. For Mukhopadhyay, this is interesting from an Afghan perspective: “These were men who had fought for decades and had this opportunity and this power that they had been waiting for. They were not going to go quietly into the night. They wanted a piece of this new state.” According to Mukhopadhyay, a large number of former Afghan fighters are interested in

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In Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan, Mukhopadhyay paints a broad and at times unexpected picture of warlords like Sherzai. The accounts from her firsthand interviews with his constituents and colleagues reveal complaints of corruption, graft, and poor management. Yet they also tell of a man most at home among the people, a man who cried when

constituents brought him stories of civilian casualties and gave hundreds of dollars to a poor elderly man selling food on the street. They tell of a man who built parks for communities to socialize in as they had never been able to before.

Mukhopadhyay describes the evolution taking place among former Afghan fighters: “Many of them still operate under a certain set of rules that have only changed to some extent but . . . the system does not support them in the same way that it used to. They can’t fight their way to everything they want.” From her interviews with former Afghan warlords, Mukhopadhyay concludes that many of them no longer wanted to fight. “There is a tremendous fatigue from so many decades of that kind of struggle. A lot of them are looking to make a lot of money, a lot of them are looking to have power in new ways that they haven’t had before, but a lot of them are just looking for a good stable life—which they also didn’t have before,” she says.

In mid-March Mukhopadhyay returned to Kabul to begin research on a new project about weak statehood and the way that the central government negotiates with actors in the provincial periphery. The study will cover the last 10 years, spanning 34 provinces and their governors in an attempt to understand the logic by which the center—President Hamid Karzai and his regime—sent

Dipali Mukhopadhyay with Governor Atta Mohammad Noor at the provincial palace in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, in 2008

certain people to govern certain provinces and to discover which qualities were most important for provincial leadership: warlord commanders versus women, a candidate’s province of origin versus another’s experience abroad in a key country. She compares the process of placing these individuals to a complex chess game; in particularly important provinces, she says, there is no question that Karzai is intimately involved. Through the study, she hopes to discover how the center government thinks about the different communities that comprise the periphery, both strategically and financially, and how much of the periphery the center needs to control for the state to exist.

For Mukhopadhyay, this is an exciting and timely opportunity—a chance to step back from the politics of individual provinces and see the bigger picture—with a major transition likely to follow the country’s recent elections. She has a unique perspective on the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and the approaching final troop withdrawal at the end of this year. In her view, the results of politics in Afghanistan are not as strongly tied to what outsiders do—or do not do—as others might believe. “Things have a way of playing out when individuals who are in the system know that they will be in the system for a long time and other actors are coming and going,” she says. “The big lesson from the Afghan case . . . is how little influence we actually have on the big picture.”

Mukhopadhyay joined SIPA as an assistant professor in 2012 after completing a yearlong postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton and a doctorate in international relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School. She teaches a course on State Formation, Violence, and Intervention in the Modern World, for which she was voted SIPA’s “Teacher of the Year for a Small Course,” after its inaugural semester. She also teaches courses on non-state armed actors, the politics of weak statehood, and foreign intervention and conflict management.

Mukhopadhyay is a mentor to many students and serves as the faculty adviser for SIPA’s Women in Security Student Organization, which was founded in 2013 with her support. Her former students describe her as creative and challenging, but also patient and accessible. Her courses are known for their focus on practical application and creativity in critical thinking. She describes the classroom experience as an amazing laboratory to test out ideas and learn about cases. “It’s a really satisfying back-and-forth with students, which is the great thing about being at a place like SIPA, because students have a lot to say, and they have lived through a lot of experiences.” If this is the case, Mukhopadhyay is right at home at SIPA.

“ There is a tremendous fatigue from so many decades of that kind of struggle. A lot of [former warlords] are looking to make a lot of money, a lot of them are looking to have power in new ways that they haven’t had before, but a lot of them are just looking for a good stable life— which they also didn’t have before.”

—Dipali Mukhopadhyay

Melissa Mayers MIA ’14 is concentrating in International Security Policy.

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ernest moniz

On August 26, 2013, the Center on Global Energy Policy welcomed Dr. Ernest J. Moniz, who delivered his first major policy address in New York City since being sworn in as the 13th U.S. secretary of energy on May 21, 2013.

Secretary Moniz spoke forcefully about the need to make urgent progress on climate change and the role of the Energy Department in implementing the Obama administration’s Climate Action Plan. He discussed the importance of improving the resilience of our energy infrastructure and electric grid and of continuing to drive down the cost and increase the deployment of clean energy technologies such as solar, wind, and advanced batteries. Secretary Moniz also talked about the role that natural gas can play in our energy future and the importance of ensuring safe and responsible production. Following the secretary’s remarks, Center director Jason Bordoff moderated a discussion with questions submitted from the audience.

perspectives on the crisis in ukraine

SIPA and the Harriman Institute hosted a discussion, “Perspectives on the Crisis in Ukraine,” with a distinguished panel of experts on March 10, 2014.

From left: Timothy Frye, director, Harriman Institute, Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy; Jan Svejnar, James T. Shotwell Professor of Global Political Economy, director, Center on Global Economic Governance; Valery Kuchinsky, adjunct professor of international relations, former Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations; Peter Clement, visiting professor of international and public affairs; Jason Bordoff, professor of professional practice in international and public affairs, director, Center on Global Energy Policy; Richard Betts, Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies, Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of War and Peace Studies, director, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, director, SIPA’s International Security Policy program

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A Passion Outside the Classroom

By Fernando Peinado

One of the most fulfilling aspects of the SIPA experience is the opportunity to meet fellow students with fascinating lives. Beyond the classroom, many continue to be active in spheres from sports to politics. The six students featured in this article all have passions for different activities that they have managed to combine with the intense workload at school. They all seem to agree on one idea: when you love what you do, the extra hours you put into it do not feel like work.

The Journalist

The Artist

Age: 28 Nationality: Venezuela Program: MPA ‘14

Age: 27 Nationality: United States Program: MIA ‘15

Snow falling over Manhattan can be seen out the window as Dariela Sosa addresses her tens of thousands of listeners in Caribbean-bathed Venezuela.

“Good afternoon, my friends, we are airing from the City of New York your program ‘Hoy No es Un Día Cualquiera’ (Today is Not an Ordinary Day),” says Sosa before introducing her guest today, Paul Lagunes, a SIPA professor specializing in the study of corruption.

Her one-hour interview show is recorded at her studio on the 14th floor of the International Affairs Building and aired on Radio Caracas Radio, Venezuela’s oldest radio station. She started presenting the show daily in 2011, and producers decided to keep her as their radio host on Fridays from New York, when she moved from Caracas to start her degree at SIPA. Over the last two years, Sosa has conducted interviews with some leading Latin American academics and politicians as well as with some of her fellow students. She says that the idea of her show is to use Columbia University as a platform for important ideas in the Venezuelan debate. She hopes to work in the field of communication and development after graduation but would like to continue with her show. “Running the show has allowed me to stay connected to Venezuela and to link what I have learned in the master’s program with the necessities of my country.”

New York’s cultural attributes drew Raffi Wartanian to study at SIPA. Musician, actor, and writer, Wartanian is making use of the many opportunities to cultivate his talents that the city has to offer. During his first year at SIPA, he has performed at small venues as a solo guitarist; learned to play the oud, a string instrument, with one of the top oudists in the world, Ara Dinkjian; and held theatrical video exchanges with an actor in war-torn Damascus.

To satisfy his demand for creativity, Wartanian has taken SIPA courses in journalism, such as Magazine Writing with an International Dateline, taught

by New York Times writer Claudia Dreifus. He has also tapped into the vast offerings of Columbia University, with courses like Comparative Diaspora and Armenian Genocide and Holocaust: Memory and Representation. Wartanian, who was raised in Maryland by Armenian-immigrant parents, loves to learn about different cultures, an interest that played a part in his decision to study at SIPA. “I think there is a lot of overlap between art and international affairs,” he says. “I want to understand how the world works and apply that knowledge to my music, poetry, and screenplays.”

Dariela Sosa

Raffi Wartanian

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The Chess Star

Amon Simutowe Age: 32 Nationality: Zambia MIA ‘14

The Entrepreneur

While many SIPA students will go on to have remarkable professional careers, it is not that common to meet one who has already made history. At the age of 27 in 2009, Amon Simutowe became the first Chess Grandmaster from sub-Saharan Africa. The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. The achievement of this Zambian student is all the more remarkable considering he taught himself at the relatively late age of 10 and grew up in a country with little tradition of chess competitions. In Zambia soccer is the most popular sport, but Simutowe was named Sportsman of the Year in 2001 by the Zambian Sports Council.

His victories were featured on the front pages of Zambian newspapers, something that gave domestic visibility to chess. “I cannot complain of the attention and support I got,” he says. While at SIPA, Simutowe has been writing an instructional book with the aim of encouraging kids in Africa to develop a liking for the game. The book is due to be released after his graduation in May. Although he is not currently playing at tournament level, chess takes over much of his free time. “I usually play on Friday evenings, to get my brain to relax,” he says. “I cannot stop playing chess—for me it’s like an addiction.”

Age: 25 Nationality: France MIA ‘14

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David Foult

David Foult’s office is the archetypical workspace for creative entrepreneurs.

Once the elevator’s doors open, visitors are welcomed by the sight of dozens of young people gathered for a morning meeting in a lounge, surrounded by books, a pinball machine, and a Ping-Pong table. The office, in the heart of SoHo, is shared by dozens of start-ups like Foult’s. Try The World, the company he co-founded in early 2013 with Columbia Business School student Kat Vorotova, has found a profitable market, delivering nation-themed gift boxes to customers in the United States. “We have sold thousands of boxes with close to zero dollars invested in marketing,” said Foult. Currently, Try The World’s customers receive gourmet foods and artworks from France, Japan, Brazil, and Italy. Soon a box from Turkey will be introduced to a rapidly growing list. At the moment, Try The World is being sponsored by Columbia’s Entrepreneurial Greenhouse Program, which assists students in refining their business plans.

Foult, who had been involved in three start-up projects in France and Vietnam before enrolling at SIPA, developed his idea as an assignment for the SIPA course, Launching a New Venture, taught by Martin Varsavsky. Foult said that Varsavsky changed his vision of entrepreneurship. “He shows that you can be humble and implement very ambitious ideas; that what is difficult is to make things simple, in the sense that they are understandable by everyone.”

Managing his time between SIPA and Try The World has been a challenge for Foult during the past two years, but his passion for his project helped him to move forward. “Basically I work all day, but for me it’s not work at all.”

The Activist

Gerald McElroy The Extreme Sportswoman

Age: 27 Nationality: United States MPA-DP ‘14

Age: 27 Nationality: United States MIA ‘14

Three weeks into the fall semester, events in the Dominican Republic disrupted Gerald McElroy’s ordinary schedule. With a ruling that sparked international condemnation, the Constitutional Court stripped the citizenship from hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent. McElroy, who has been working with an NGO in a small community of Haitian-Dominicans since 2005, felt he needed to react to this injustice. A month later, his fiveminute video “Eso No Se Hace” (“You Cannot Do That”) had been seen more than 110,000 times on YouTube, and the slogan “Eso No Se Hace” had been adopted by activists all around the world. In just four words, McElroy had summarized how many people felt about the Court’s decision to condemn to statelessness thousands who did not know a country other than the Dominican Republic. “We all felt it was just not acceptable and should not be tolerated by Dominicans or anyone,” McElroy says.

Pressured by campaigners and other governments’ condemnations, the Dominican government has been forced to seek out alternatives to the ruling.

Since the decision, McElroy joined other activists to film a second video and participated in demonstrations and events, contributing to the movement of Dominicans on the island and around the world that has called attention to long-standing racial discrimination in the Dominican Republic. McElroy says that regardless of whether he works in the Dominican Republic after graduation, he will continue to be involved with development issues on the board of the NGO Yspaniola, on the island he loves. “The video was meant to show solidarity with people that we have known now for nine years and care deeply about.”

Christia Panizales

Four years ago, Christia Panizales took up sailing to conquer her longtime fear of deep water. She ran the extra mile, and last winter, one of the coldest on record in the United States, she braved snow and freezing winds to compete at the Boston Frostbite Regatta. The competition consisted of 16 races, sometimes in extreme weather conditions, held on weekends in the Boston Harbor.

For some races, she says, she wore six layers of clothing. “I am a big fan of challenging my comfort zone,” says Panizales, who is a fan of other adventure sports like rock climbing.

She does not hide the fact that she and her team finished the competition in the bottom tier, but she points out that she has all her life to learn. “The people we competed against were really hard-core sailors. Some of them have been sailing for over 60 years,” Panizales said. And she adds that the experience was worth the four-hour drive every other weekend up to Boston. She says that it allowed her to disconnect from the intense schedule at SIPA. “I like the freedom of sailing. You forget all your responsibilities.”

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Todd Miner ESP ’11

By Alyssa Dubov

Todd Miner, a 2011 alumnus of the MPA in Environment Science and Policy program (MPA-ESP), has always been deeply involved in work at postconflict and disaster areas, both abroad and in the United States. He puts the management and planning skills he acquired at SIPA to good use as director of Friends of Rockaway, an organization working to restore the Rockaway Peninsula.

What is your current job?

I am the director of Friends of Rockaway, a disaster relief and recovery organization started in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. We focus on residential infrastructure in the Rockaway Peninsula, which is located in the southernmost point of Queens in New York City. Friends of Rockaway started out helping individual residents to clean out their homes, following the 11-foot storm surge that came across the community, and has expanded to rebuilding homes for families unable to rebuild on their own. We have helped more than 5,000 residents, worked in nearly 700 homes, and fully rebuilt houses for 32 families.

I manage operations of our 35-person staff, including our construction office, client services, volunteer recruitment, and our development/ marketing team. I am also working with the community to develop a plan to help make this peninsula more resilient to future flooding events. Some days, I focus on finance and development, and other days, I visit homes and check in on the progress of our construction team as well as meet with clients to help them through the recovery process.

We are a community-based organization and want to remain that way. We have a local hiring program that aims to bring jobs to Rockaway as well as train residents so they can find employment.

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Do your current job responsibilities align with the professional goals that you originally had when you began the MPA-ESP program?

Prior to SIPA, I was managing programs in postconflict and disaster areas abroad and in the United States. My goal in coming to SIPA was to learn how to manage organizations. I know the skills that I developed while in the ESP program were instrumental for me being able to assume this position. On a daily basis, I am juggling short-, medium-, and long-term goals while also handling a variety of difficult issues that come up. While I was a student, I learned how to operate effectively and efficiently when time and resources are limited, and that’s a good way to think about how my job is structured!

What skills has the MPA-ESP program taught you that have proven useful to your current position?

Beyond the ability to manage multiple

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projects under tight time constraints, I am constantly using statistics and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to better understand the needs of the community of Rockaway. During the relief phase of the disaster, I managed a canvassing project to better understand these needs and then connect those residents to services available in the area. We used that data, displayed on large maps and presented to potential donors, to secure funds to start Friends of Rockaway.

I now spend a lot of time working with my managers to keep them and the rest of our team working toward our common goals. Managing assigned responsibilities, personalities, and individual abilities are challenges I experienced in workshop while I was a student of MPA-ESP. What skills and tools do you hope to acquire through this job?

This is my first opportunity running

a nonprofit, and I hope that as we expand, I will be managing more people and larger operations.

How has collaborating with your fellow students in class projects benefited you professionally and personally?

From our [ESP] workshops, I learned that there is no such thing as a perfectly executed project or a perfect working relationship. Rather, you keep constantly focused on the longterm strategy and adjust your tactics as the situation changes.

What kinds of environmental initiatives do you hope to start in your new position?

At the moment, Friends of Rockaway is focused solely on providing safe homes for community members, but we are beginning work on a disaster resilience program that will focus on addressing the long-term implications of climate change and sea-level rise here in New York City.

I am very excited about the program and know that it is an opportunity to address climate change in a way that is very immediate and personal for real people.

How do you intend to utilize your degree from SIPA to further your career?

For the moment, I can’t think of a better job, and I hope that I will be here for a long while. I do know that when it is time to move on, I will be able to use my MPA-ESP degree to ensure that my next job offers me the opportunity to expand my skill set and take on bigger challenges.

Alyssa Dubov is coordinator at The Earth Institute, Columbia University.

Left: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; middle: Dean Merit E. Janow, President Lee C. Bollinger, Professor David N. Dinkins, and Mayor Bill de Blasio; right (from left to right): panelists Ester R. Fuchs, Bruce Ratner, Jennifer Jones Austin, Richard Ravitch, and Dorian Warren

2014 Dinkins Forum Bill de Blasio, 109th Mayor of New York City: Lessons of Past Leaders Impact Today’s Challenges

By Marcus Tonti

O

n April 25, Mayor Bill de Blasio MIA ’87 gave the keynote address at the annual David N. Dinkins

Forum on Leadership and Public Policy. Speaking to a crowd of more than 300 in Low Library, de Blasio recalled his education at SIPA. “My wife always says to me that a master’s in international affairs is necessary to be mayor of New York City,” he commented.

De Blasio also spoke warmly of his days as a young staff member for then Mayor Dinkins and said his introductory stint in municipal government was both an honor and a formative experience.

Among other things, de Blasio said, he learned “very difficult lessons about the roadblocks that are put in the way of any effort to foster greater equality, to reach people in need, to address some of the blatant biases and the discrimination that still pervades society.”

“We in the Dinkins years had the honor of serving a leader who wanted to take those challenges head on [and] felt the impact of the opposition to the changes he sought to make. But in that process, all of us learned,” he said. “A lot of us came out of the experience of the Dinkins years energized to go do more, to fulfill the vision that the mayor

started to put into place.”

In his remarks, de Blasio highlighted the efforts of progressive icons of New York City and State— former governor Al Smith, former governor (and U.S. president) Franklin D. Roosevelt, and former mayor Fiorello La Guardia. De Blasio said he drew inspiration from these leaders’ commitment to action.

“Silence or inaction was the most unacceptable possibility,” he said.

Smith, Roosevelt, and La Guardia “would build, they would experiment, sometimes they would fail. But that there had to be a clear, forward motion visible to all that was, in one measure, about solving people’s material needs and in another measure about re-engendering hope.”

Today, de Blasio said, “the challenges around us require that strong, consistent response. They require creativity, and I marvel at the creativity of those who came before us. And I aspire just to reach some of their level and hope I can follow in their footsteps modestly.”

Dedicating this year’s forum in his welcoming remarks, former mayor and SIPA professor David N. Dinkins commented on the importance of “those who came before us,” including Basil Paterson, the longtime Harlem political leader and a friend to Dinkins for many years: “I always

ask my students and young people to give back some measure of that which they have received. That is the spirit in which we should all celebrate the faith of our predecessors and the life of a treasure such as Basil Paterson—it is how we draw upon his legacy to build a better future. And with that in mind, among the dawning of our new mayor and the forward-thinkers on the panel that follow his keynote address, we dedicate the 17th Annual Dinkins Forum to the legacy of Basil Paterson, who went on to his reward last week on April 16.”

Mayor de Blasio was also

welcomed by President Lee C. Bollinger and Dean Merit E. Janow.

The mayor’s speech was followed by a discussion moderated

by Professor Ester Fuchs, director of SIPA’s Urban and Social Policy concentraton and featuring Jennifer Jones Austin, the CEO of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies and cochair of de Blasio’s Mayoral Transition Committee; real estate developer Bruce Ratner Law ’70; former New York lieutenant governor Richard Ravitch CC ’55; and Dorian Warren, associate professor of political science and international and public affairs.

A Global Public Policy Education at SIPA Prepares U.S. Mayors Mayor Bill de Blasio MIA ’87 is one of three mayors recently elected to office in major U.S. cities who received an education in international public policy at SIPA. In November 2013, de Blasio was elected mayor of the City of New York by an historic margin, winning support from almost every neighborhood in the city’s five boroughs. In May 2013, Eric Garcetti MIA ’95 was elected mayor of Los Angeles, focusing on concrete solutions to the critical urban problems shared by all global cities—job creation, sustainability, and safety. Steven Fulop MPA ’06 was elected mayor of Jersey City in May 2013, winning 52 percent of the vote. (See page 46 for excerpts from his keynote address at SIPA’s Alumni Day luncheon.)

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Glasnost and Perestroika: Fueled by Vodka and Bollywood

By Jawahar Shah

I

don’t have a good explanation for picking Russia for a backpacking vacation in the heart of winter. There were almost no tourists, and it seemed that most

English-speaking staff in Moscow had decided to take a vacation of their own. In a moment of brilliant insight, I made my way to the Ostozhenka neighborhood, the part of the city favored by the diplomatic community. After spending a lonely 15 minutes at what I had hoped would be a bar with English speakers, just as I was about to leave, I heard the last thing I expected. It took me a few moments to register the sound as meaningful communication. No, it wasn’t English; it was Hindi, the local language spoken in North India, some 2,600 miles away, where I had started my solitary trip.

It’s hard to explain the sheer impossibility of this moment. A quintessential Russian, blonde with gray eyes, saying, “Hello, are you from India?” in Hindi more perfect and formal than mine, isn’t something you would expect. Katya was a student at Moscow State University, enrolled in an immersive program to study Russian-Indian political and diplomatic relations. She enthusiastically informed me of the deep cooperative ties between our two nations in fields ranging from space technologies to filmmaking in Bollywood—India’s Hollywood in Bombay.

Over the next few days, in exchange for practicing Hindi with me, Katya took on the role of my personal tour guide. However, after quickly exhausting the short list of available

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options in Moscow, she suggested I visit St. Petersburg and meet with her (Englishspeaking) friend there who, confusingly, was also named Katya. With heartfelt gratitude, I bid farewell to my first-ever Russian friend and boarded the overnight train to St. Petersburg, with several long stops at sleepy mountain villages along the way.

After watching my co-passengers get off at every stop and brave the bitter cold for a quick cigarette, I decided to step out for a quick stroll at the next picturesque village.

Not more than a minute could have passed, but as I was looking down at the small village, I heard the worst possible sound—the pneumatic hiss of the closing doors—and a moment later, the train pulled away. It dawned on me that I was the only person who stepped out because everyone else on board understood the train announcer and had stayed put. The now-desolate platform was an elevated strip of concrete with no staff or even display signs.

This place was so remote, even my cell phone had no network. I was left with two possibilities—freeze to death on the platform or try my luck in the village.

As I walked down the cobblestone street, every house I encountered was decidedly still and quiet. After a short walk, I reached what appeared to be the town square—a cheerfully lit church and, more thankfully, a loud bar. As I entered the bar, all eight patrons, including the bartender, instantly froze in mid-sentence and stared at me in disbelief. I was the first Indian they had ever seen.

It’s hard to explain the sheer impossibility of this moment. A quintessential Russian, blonde with gray eyes, saying, “hello, are you from India?” in Hindi more perfect and formal than mine, isn’t something you would expect.

A couple of bills put down at the bar got me a vodka. I fished out my ticket and showed it to the bartender, hoping he could figure out my predicament. No such luck. A few minutes later, one of the men from a table in the back walked up to me, and, to my surprise, had the bartender top off my drink and gestured for me to join him and his buddies at his table. Without any other alternatives, I decided to follow.

The “conversations” in the next hour were the most insightful, entertaining, and outright bizarre I have ever encountered. Of course, none of them spoke English, but they recognized me as Indian. Through isolated words like “India,” “Russia,” “friend,” and “Bollywood,” I got the gist of their communication. In return, I played them Bollywood songs from my phone, which earned me more free vodkas. It was then I realized that Bollywood has a huge following in Russia, and our cultural ties are far stronger and deeper than mere political cooperation.

After a while, we were joined by a new person, who, after a brief exchange with his friends, greeted me with a “hello.” With a slightly larger English vocabulary, he seemed very interested in discussing glasnost and perestroika, Russian social movements advocating openness and reform designed to overcome domestic difficulties. Acutely aware of my own current difficulties, I managed to bring up my ticket amidst the conversation, which was promptly pocketed by our political scientist,

who, much to my alarm, continued his vodkafueled monologue as if that little exchange never took place. Despite my growing anxiousness, I found myself increasingly drawn into debating the merits of Yeltsin’s policies, truly appreciating the similarities in our perspectives despite our obvious differences.

Quite abruptly, the conversation came to an end, and a burly man of few words at the end of the table gestured for me to follow him. Our resident political scientist handed him my ticket. I silently followed my escort out of the bar and down a snowy street without the slightest idea of our destination. Quickly, we ended up back at the station through back alley short cuts, just as a train slowly pulled in through the fog. After a quick exchange with an official on board, my escort handed her my ticket and left without a word.

I met Katya #2 in St. Petersburg the next afternoon and spent a few normal days in the city for the remainder of my trip.

However, the highlight undoubtedly has to have been the surreal night I spent in the heart of Russia, discovering cultural and historical ties I never knew existed. Russia and India, divided by geography, politics, and language, joined together by common aspirations of glasnost and perestroika, fueled by vodka and Bollywood.

Jawahar Shah MPA ’14 is concentrating in Energy and Environment.

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Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan KaradŞicćappears in the courtroom of the ICTY War Crimes tribunal in the Hague on November 3, 2009.

The Banality of Radovan Karadžić

By Dana Watters

R

adovan Karadžić is wearing a purple shirt this morning. From behind a glass-paneled window, mere feet from the man, I make a note in my composition book. A

moment later, I cross out “purple” and scrawl “lavender” in its place. The shirt is decidedly lavender.

I have eye shadow the same shade in my makeup kit back at the hotel. It’s vital to me that the color be accurate in my notes.

I’ve been waiting three years for this, the chance to sit in a dimly lit gallery in The Hague, watching the proceedings of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Dr. Karadžić, a psychiatrist by training, was once the wartime president of the Serb-dominated entity of the fracturing Bosnia and Herzegovina. As Yugoslavia was torn apart in the fall of 1991, Bosnia descended into political chaos that turned into a bloody war by the spring of 1992. It was Radovan Karadžić who led the Bosnian Serbs—both as president of the Republika Srpska and supreme commander of its armed forces—as the conflict raged for three and a half years, claiming an estimated 100,000 lives and displacing 2.2 million people.

The figures, of course, vary depending upon who is testifying. Here, in Courtroom One, everything, from the signature on a document to the translation of a word, is open to interpretation and rationalization.

The first indictment against Dr. Karadžić was filed on July 24, 1995, charging him—along with Ratko Mladić, the military leader of the Bosnian Serbs—with genocide and other crimes.

In November of the same year, a joint indictment against the two was filed, adding charges specific to the mass murder of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys that took place in Srebrenica in July 1995. In total, Dr. Karadžić faces 11 charges, including two for genocide and one for taking

hostage members of the UN peacekeeping force and UN military observers.

I was nine years old when the war ended, and all I can remember is a brief flash of news footage. I didn’t know until years later that as I celebrated my ninth birthday, the Bosnian Serb offensive against Srebrenica had just begun. I did not share in the horror of the international community when it became clear that genocide had been perpetrated, once again, on European soil, 50 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. By the time I took notice of the region, as a college freshman at Chapman University, Yugoslavia did not exist and Dr. Karadžić and Mladić were international fugitives.

I was blissfully naïve to the outside world on my ninth birthday. Now, in the summer of 2013, I am turning 27 in the gallery of Karadžić’s courtroom.

It is my last chance to witness history before it is relegated to the books.

Mladić, too, is on trial, upstairs in Courtroom Three. In Courtroom Two, Goran Hadžić faces 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Croatia, when he served as president of the breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina. Both trials interest me, but the show in Courtroom One is why I’m here. During their trials, Mladić and Hadžić sit blank-faced at the back of the courtroom, the security guards who sit beside them at all times sullen. But Dr. Karadžić is different.

He conducts his own interrogation of witnesses. He interacts with the judges, often to be chastised for belaboring a point or for continuing a line of questioning after he’s already been directed to change course. His counsel smiles at him, has exchanges with his client that appear lighthearted and friendly from my seat behind the glass, trying to read their lips. Dr. Karadžić speaks English frequently, makes the security guards laugh, and wears lavender shirts with his impeccably pressed black suits.

He picks his nose.

He’s wearing a plaid skinny tie this time, and the gallery is more crowded. He is aware of our presence, is probably used to it after almost four years of proceedings. He seems a bit antsy this afternoon, my third and final day watching the trial. The topic of the witness interrogation surrounds actions of the Serb paramilitary unit known as the Tigers, led by Željko Ražnatović, known better by the nickname “Arkan.” The Tigers were notorious for their savagery and for the mascot with which they frequently posed—a tiger cub. In photos, Arkan can be seen holding the cub by the scruff of its neck as men in black ski masks hold weapons at the ready. I’ve always wondered what happened to the tiger cub. No one seems to know.

As the witness answers questions about the actions of the Tigers, Dr. Karadžić sticks his finger into his nose. It would be discreet, if not for the 20 or 30 people watching him from the darkened room and the collection of judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, and translators sitting with him in the courtroom.

It strikes me as fitting that he doesn’t seem to care. After all, he doesn’t seem to care that he is on trial for genocide. In his crisp suit and stylish tie, his bushy grey hair combed into submission, he looks like he would fit in well at an investment bank or leading a university lecture. If he believes he has done the heinous acts for which he is on trial, or if he feels any guilt for the thousands of deaths he allegedly ordered, it doesn’t show.

Radovan Karadžić is an enigma, wrapped in a war criminal, wearing lavender and plaid.

Dana Watters MIA ’14 is concentrating in Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy with a specialization in International Media, Advocacy, and Communications.

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sipa’s bookshelf

By Doyeun Kim, Valle Aviles Pinedo, and Marcus Tonti

Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama

by Stephen Sestanovich Knopf, 416 pages February 11, 2014

S

tephen Sestanovich, the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor for the Practice of International Diplomacy at SIPA and a senior fellow at the Council

on Foreign Relations, has had a long career in and out of the U.S. government, advising and coordinating Russian and post-Soviet policy programs.

His new book, Maximalist, examines the sweep of American foreign policy since World War II, contrasting alternating periods of “maximalism” and “retrenchment,” each one adopted when the previous one does not seem to be working.

Presidents in maximalist mode have pushed policies that seek to do more after periods of undercommitment. Over the years, this meant

devoting new resources to Cold War crises and other emerging problems that produced frenzied foreign policy debates.

In contrast, presidents in retrenchment mode have sought to respond to periods of perceived overcommitment by doing less, slowing down actions, and taking the time for more rumination. Examples of such periods came in the years following the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and, more recently, the end of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Speaking at SIPA in March, Sestanovich said Americans tend to idealize the years following World War II, remembering a past in which the United States led successful, unified alliances and enjoyed domestic consensus from one decade to the next. In

A Mayor’s Life: Governing New York’s Gorgeous Mosaic

by David N. Dinkins Public Affairs, 408 pages September 17, 2013

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IPA celebrated the newly published memoir of former New York City mayor David N. Dinkins, a professor of professional practice, at an October 2013 event—a

conversation between Dinkins and Professor Ester Fuchs—followed by a book signing.

A Mayor’s Life tells of Dinkins’s remarkable journey from his boyhood in Trenton, N.J., and Harlem to his election in 1990 as the city’s first African American mayor.

Dinkins’s initial efforts to join the military during World War II met resistance from recruiters in Newark and Jersey City—“We have our quota of Negro marines,” he was told. He continued his efforts in New York and Philadelphia and eventually enlisted at the age of 18, serving stateside from 1945, at the very tail end of World War II, through 1946.

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As the son of a barber and a domestic worker, Dinkins said, he “had never thought of going to college.” But after leaving the military, he ended up earning a BS in mathematics from Howard University and an LLB from Brooklyn Law School.

As a professor of public affairs and political science and director of SIPA’s Urban and Social Policy concentration, Ester Fuchs has worked with Dinkins for many years. “This [book] is a masterpiece, it’s very inspirational,” she said. “I want students to listen to your story.”

“I see the American dream materializing in your life,” she said.

fact, he said, the history of American foreign policy since the beginnings of the Cold War has more typically been chaotic, confused, and full of discord.

“Our alliances were regularly in crisis, the American domestic scene was full of intense recriminations and scapegoating,” he said. “We are able to see our controversies about Syria and Ukraine in a more meaningful historical context if we understand what a mess the past was.”

Indeed, the debate over maximalism versus retrenchment in the context of current events underscores how the framework is useful in understanding the rationale for today’s policies and possible courses for the future.

Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit

by Charles W. Calomiris and Stephen H. Haber Princeton University Press, 624 pages February 23, 2014

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few years ago, Charles W. Calomiris of SIPA and Columbia Business School and Stephen H. Haber of Stanford University were asked to consider the meaning of property rights in finance as part of a task force set up by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

The project led to their 2014 book, which examines the historical record in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil to show how banking has played out over time in different nations and, even more important, in different political contexts. Fragile

by Design suggests that banking crises and lack of credit are not accidents but the product of national political frameworks that reflect the input of multiple stakeholders. The well-being of banking systems, the authors suggest, depends

on the abilities of political institutions to balance and limit how coalitions influence government regulations.

“In finance, property rights issues have traditionally been discussed too narrowly, focusing on the legal rights of minority shareholders, the rights of creditors, and a lot of legalism about the efficiency of enforcement in the courts,” Calomiris tells SIPA News. “But what’s most important from the standpoint of property rights in finance are the rights to engage in certain financial activities, the right to get favored access to credit, and the right to be insulated from financial loss.

“Expropriation risk, entry barriers, chartering of banks, allocation of losses when they occur— once you understand these are all property-rights questions, the property-rights aspect of finance

becomes a long and interesting subject. And, if you know the history of finance, it’s clear that those are political decisions, they’re not just decisions that are made in court related to politically neutral legal principles.”

The topics may be of particular interest to students of emerging financial markets, which rely on stable, effective banking systems. But readers with a general interest in history should also find the book appealing.

“If you like history and you think banking wasn’t important, you’ll be surprised,” Calomiris says. “We’re passionate about our topic—it’s not just static models, it’s a general framework for understanding how the world has evolved.”

You can read more at SIPA News online or www.fragilebydesign.com.

Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture

by Hisham Aidi Pantheon, 432 pages March 4, 2014

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ecturer Hisham Aidi teaches Conceptual Foundations of International Politics at SIPA; his interests include the politics of globalization, race, and social move-

ments. In Rebel Music he examines “Muslim youth movements in Europe and the Americas [and] a range of secular, Islamist, liberal, and conservative movements that have arisen in response to War on Terror policies.”

“I thought music would be an interesting lens through which to understand Muslim youth movements in Europe and the Americas,” Aidi said in an interview with SIPA News, “because music is used by youth to express identity, politics, and to interpret the world, but also because there is a rich debate within the Muslim world about the permissibility of music.”

Aidi said he found in music a snapshot of various movements’ relationship to religion, their

attitudes toward American culture, and their relationship to their home nation-states. The book considers attempts by the United States and other governments in the last decade to use music for public diplomacy, integration, and what some call “de-radicalization.” Regimes in places including Algeria, Ethiopia, and Pakistan also saw music as a vehicle for promoting Sufism and Sufi practice as a counterbalance to conservative Islamist movements.

In an effort to promote Muslim practices perceived as moderate, U.S.-funded programs supported a range of organizations, schools, community centers, and publications across the Muslim world, from North Africa to Pakistan. The United States also provided funding to NGOs in minority communities, especially Muslim communities, in and around European cities.

These efforts may have improved perceptions of the United States in western European minority

communities, Aidi said, but also brought criticism from others who believe government should not to push for theological change. Some further decry what they see as American interference in European affairs.

Comparable efforts in Muslim-majority states have been less successful, Aidi says. “Perceptions of the U.S. are still negative because of American hard power,” he notes. “Soft power initiatives can’t distract from problematic U.S. policies and alliances.”

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Global Local Policy address contemporary challenges. This is something SIPA has known since its inception.

It’s time to acknowledge that the world doesn’t work that way anymore in a siloed, local way.

Excerpts from remarks given by the Honorable Steven M. Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey At Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) Alumni Day Saturday, April 12, 2014

Jersey City Is a Global City I’m extremely fortunate to have gone to school at SIPA because Jersey City, where I serve as mayor, is a global city . . .

We are seeing across-the-board increases in the density, population, and diversity of cities on every continent on the planet. As Jersey City becomes the rule rather than the exception, we increasingly find that the siloed, localist approach to public policy education does not adequately equip leaders and public servants to

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Global Local Policy Running the second largest city in New Jersey would be hard enough without examining each policy from a global perspective. But in another way, I think we have nothing to fear from the globalizing of the challenges we face in the field of public policy. There are terrific opportunities in the ever-increasing interconnectedness of our world. Dwight Eisenhower said, “if you can’t solve a problem, enlarge it.”

Globalization is enlarging all of our problems for us; it’s making them more complex, more multifaceted, but not necessarily worse or more difficult. In some cases, I think increased interconnectivity is making our problems more workable—it yields new synergies, new economies, and a greater capacity for collaboration . . .

It’s no coincidence that the leaders on global local policy all govern highly international cities. They can walk their streets, talk to their constituents, and see that the cultural, economic, and geographical gulfs that historically isolated nations, continents, and peoples from one another are shrinking, and that their policies can positively reinforce and amplify the policies of likeminded leaders everywhere.

Gun Reform Gun reform is a critical issue in Jersey City and in many big cities across the country . . . As you know, the gun lobby, with its campaign contributions, large media presence, and political scare tactics, has historically ruled the dialogue around this issue with an iron first.

The one-sidedness of conversation was never demonstrated more clearly than in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre: a measure to require background checks for purchases at gun shows, with a 90 percent approval rating, failed to pass Congress . . .

Instead of approaching the issue legislatively, we approached it economically. Police departments are by far the largest purchasers of guns and ammo in the United States, so we have considerable power in the marketplace.

In Jersey City, it is now a requirement for gun and ammunition manufacturers who seek to do business with the city to answer a questionnaire regarding positions on gun safety.

Jersey City alone doesn’t have enough marketplace leverage to singlehandedly change the policies of gun and ammo manufacturers, but other cities will take similar measures, and the pressure on gun manufacturers to be transparent and socially responsible will mount.

Climate Change The International Energy Agency estimates that cities are responsible for more than 80 percent of U.S. energy consumption, meaning that they are also likely the greatest sources of greenhouse gasses. With this comes a responsibility to lead the charge in addressing climate change . . . Through the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, of which Jersey City is now a member, more than 1,000 mayors have agreed to meet or exceed Kyoto Protocol targets, even though the federal government has not ratified the Protocol . . .

Immigration Immigration reform isn’t just a talking point to me, a bargaining chip I can use to secure reelection. There are 75 languages spoken in Jersey City schools. If you take two Jersey City residents at random, there’s an 83 percent chance they won’t be of the same race.

Immigration reform has a face to me; it’s connected to actual people whom I actually know. This is true for many big city mayors, so it’s a very important issue, and one we’ve got to address on our own.

Jersey City, along with 31 other cities around the United States and Canada, are sanctuary cities, which means that Jersey City employees and police officers are by municipal ordinance not to inquire as to immigration status, and not to devote city resources to any investigation of the immigration status .. . . What’s more important to me and to my constituents is how to empower immigrants, how to equip them to start businesses and create jobs, get educated, and contribute to the growth of our economy.

Conclusion I couldn’t be prouder of the opportunity and progress in Jersey City.

Immigration, climate change and gun reform are all issues which are traditionally considered outside the purview of local government, despite the fact that local leaders are finding innovative ways to address them. They take a local approach to global problems.

It’s an internationalist method, but it’s also quintessentially American in that it’s entrepreneurial, practical, forward thinking, and optimistic.

This is the approach I try to take, and it’s the approach I learned at SIPA.

The Class of 2009

alumni day

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IPA’s sixth annual Alumni Day on April 12, 2014, brought more than 150 alumni from all over the world back to Columbia for a day of panels, discussions, and

networking. Topics ranged from the state of U.S.Russia relations to New York City government, from evolving gender roles to the impact of social

Classes Celebrate Reunion For the second straight year, SIPA invited all alumni celebrating landmark five-year reunions (those classes who graduated in years ending in “4” and “9”) back to campus to celebrate their time at SIPA with a cocktail reception and reunion dinner. It was a lively evening: alumni shared stories, made new contacts, and reminisced about their time at SIPA. “It’s like an encapsulation of the entire SIPA experience—intellectual expansion by day, followed by an evening walk down memory lane with old friends. Alumni Day is not to be missed,” said Maro Titus MPA ’94.

media and technology on public policy.

Dipali Mukhopadhyay, assistant professor at SIPA, discussed her new book, Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State of Afghanistan, in which she describes the political ecosystems after 2001 in Afghanistan.

A group of New York City government administrators joined an afternoon panel on “New York: The Next Four Years, the Next 20 Years,” offering their perspectives on the city’s future under Mayor Bill de Blasio MIA ’87 and beyond.

The issues of urban America “Alumni Roundtable: New York City—The Next Four Years, the Next were also highlighted by Alumni Twenty Years” Day’s keynote speaker, Steven Fulop EMPA ’06, the mayor of Jersey City. An Iraqi war veteran and a rising star in Democratic politics, Fulop shared stories from his political experiences.

Alumni Day concluded with an Alumni/Faculty Book Fair and Networking Event, which brought participants together with published alumni and faculty authors for an informal reception.

Alumni toast at the reunion dinner. s i pa s u p p o r t e r s

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SIPA Honors Global Leaders

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n April 2, 2014, at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, SIPA honored three outstanding individuals at its 14th Annual Global Leadership Awards

Gala. The honorees, through their work in public policy and administration, have made innovative or otherwise extraordinary contributions to the global public good and in particular to sustainability. The 2014 honorees are Paul Polman, chief executive officer, Unilever; Judith Rodin, president, The Rockefeller Foundation; and alumna Joan Spero MIA ’68, trustee emerita and senior research scholar, Columbia University. “These outstanding leaders exemplify SIPA’s mission. They provide inspiration with their passion and achievements,” said Dean Merit E. Janow.

Judith Rodin is president of the Rockefeller Foundation, one of the world’s leading philanthropic organizations. She was previously president of the University of Pennsylvania and provost of Yale University, the first woman to hold those roles. Since joining Rockefeller, Dr. Rodin has recalibrated its focus to meet the challenges of the 21st century with initiatives to strengthen resilience to risks and ensure more equitable growth around the world.

These include addressing climate change in poor communities; strengthening global health systems; and shaping smart, sustainable transportation policies in the United States. Dr. Rodin has actively participated in influential global forums, including the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned her PhD in psychology from Columbia University.

Joan E. Spero is a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, with a focus

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on international philanthropy. Dr. Spero was formerly a visiting scholar at the Foundation Center and served as president of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which supports the performing arts, environmental preservation, medical research, and prevention of child abuse, and president of the Duke Farms Foundation, which studies Islamic arts and culture.

Dr. Spero served in the U.S. Department of State as undersecretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs and at American Express as executive vice president, Corporate Affairs and Communications. She was Ambassador to the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs and an assistant professor at Columbia University. Dr. Spero graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin and holds a master’s degree in international affairs and a doctorate in political science from Columbia University.

Paul Polman has been chief executive officer of Unilever since January 1, 2009. Under his leadership, Unilever has set an ambitious vision to double its size while reducing its overall environmental footprint and increasing its positive social impact. Mr. Polman is chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Board of the UN Global Compact. He has served on the High Level Panel looking at the Post 2015 Millennium Development Goals and been co-chairman of the B20 group of companies, reporting to the G20 on Food Security. Mr. Polman is chairman of Perkins School for the Blind International Advisory Board and president of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust.

Top: SIPA Advisory Board members Anuradha Jayanti and Romita Shetty MIA ’89; middle: Roger Baumann, chair, SIPA Alumni Council and member, SIPA Advisory Board; bottom: Sandra Shahinian Leitner MIA ’76 and Olivia Leitner

online giving event draws record participation Columbia Giving Day is an exciting 24-hour online event that takes place once a year. For one day, Columbians around the world come together to give back and share the experience that truly defines the University. This one-day program includes online events with President Lee C. Bollinger and other Columbia innovators and a healthy donation competition among all 16 schools at the University. October 23, 2013, marked the second annual event, and it proved even more successful than the first, with a noteworthy increase in both the number of gifts made and the amount raised.

This year the Giving Day program prompted 9,759 donations, up from 5,356 in 2012, for a total of more than $7.8 million raised, versus $6.8 million in 2012. Gifts came from 53 countries and all 50 states in support of 24 schools, units, and major programs at Columbia.

Giving Day 2013 was a particularly successful for SIPA, with almost $90,000 tallied for incoming gifts to be used exclusively for student financial aid. This represents a 90 percent increase over 2012. On Giving Day and throughout the year, contributions to the Annual Fund provide indispensable fellowship support for SIPA students, allowing them to focus on their studies rather than on the financial burden of tuition.

In her thank-you note to those who participated, Dean Merit E. Janow wrote, “Building resources for current-use financial aid is SIPA’s highest fundraising priority, and we look forward to benefiting an increasing number of students in the years ahead.”

From top: Dean Merit E. Janow with Joe Lemaron Sadallah MPA ’15 and Jessi Jou Tseng MPA ’14, who spoke at the Global Leadership Awards dinner Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger with honoree Joan E. Spero President Bollinger with honoree Judith Rodin; Dean Janow; David Rockefeller Jr., chair, board of trustees, Rockefeller Foundation; and his wife Susan Rockefeller, television producer and director s i pa s u p p o r t e r s

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Class Notes Compiled by José Hunt

1971

Sharon Epstein MIA, IF Sharon Epstein writes “On August 31, 2013, I returned from Afghanistan and retired from the Foreign Service and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). My career stretched over 40 years, and I served in many countries in Asia, Africa, the Near East, Latin America, and in Georgia in the Caucasus.

My home is now in Chapel Hill, although I plan to accept short-term consultancy work for up to six months of each year from USAID, UN agencies, and private sector organizations and firms working in international health. I would welcome any news from fellow students in the MIA program in the School of International Affairs (SIA), 1969–71.”

1973

Patricia T. Meadow MIA Patricia T. Meadow was promoted to senior VP in the New York Fed’s financial institution supervision group.

Members of the Class of 1994 at Alumni Day

1974

James Bruno MIA James Bruno published a new book, Havana Queen.

1981

Deborah Lee James MIA Deborah Lee James was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as secretary of the Air Force.

1990

Alex Zucker (MIA) Alex Zucker reports that his translation of Czech author Jáchym Topol’s latest novel, The Devil’s Workshop, was published by Portobello Books in the UK last June. The book, which received the English PEN Award for Writing in Translation, became available in the U.S. in August.

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1991

1994

1992

Constance Hunter MIA Constance Hunter has been named chief economist at KPMG’s alternative investments practice.

Andrea Scharf Zussman MIA Andrea Scharf Zussman has been appointed to the California Volunteers Commission. She is currently at the San Francisco Foundation.

Robin Ratchford MIA Robin Ratchford recently published From Souk to Souk, a colorful and atmospheric account of his travels in the Middle East, taking in places as diverse as Damascus and Dubai, Beirut and Baghdad.

The region is almost constantly in the news—sadly, often for all the wrong reasons.

In From Souk to Souk he offers the reader a different, more human perspective on the countries concerned. Robin is currently based in Belgium: www.robinratchford.com

Scott Berrie MIA Scott Berrie received a News and Docunentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Programming—Long Form for executive producing “The Loving Story.”

Haoliang Xu MIA Haoliang Xu has been named the director of the regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations Development Programme.

2000

Clark Griffith MIA Clark Griffith was promoted to senior managing director at GE Capital Japan in Tokyo. He relocated to Japan in August 2010 to help GE Capital Japan build its commercial finance business, specifically, asset-based lending products. In June 2012 he was promoted to managing director of GE Capital Japan, Structured Finance, and in December appointed senior managing director of GE Japan. He leads both the Sponsor Finance (LBO, leverage finance) and Corporate Lending (cash flow, ABL, and A/R securitization) teams, GE Capital Japan, Structured Finance.

2001

Laurence Guide Pascal MPA Laurence Guide Pascal is now a research assistant at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Jason Sander MPA Jason Sander has joined MHP Real Estate Capital as managing director, new business development/capital raising.

2003

Fredrik Wessau MPA Fredrik Wessau has published The Political Adviser’s Handbook.

2004

Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez MPA Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez, founder of Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit organization based in Harlem, received a Global Citizen Award from the Clinton Global Initiative.

2007

Carolina Jaramillo MPA-ESP Carolina Jaramillo is program manager at Global Green.

2010

Andrew Buher MPA Andrew Buher, former COO of NYC’s Department of Education, was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education for 2014.

Ruby Choi MIA Ruby Choi is the winner of 2013 Fred Hayes Prize for her work in New York City government.

Mark Orrs MA, MPhil Mark Orrs is the director of sustainable development at Lehigh University.

Dan Perez MIA, IF Dan Perez has written Wonk University— The Inside Guide to Apply and Succeed In International Relations and Public Policy Graduate Schools.

2011

Sarah Curran MPA-DP Sarah Curran is a program manager for The Earth Institute’s Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development.

Patrick Delices MPA Patrick Delices is the author of an article in Black Star News.

Beatriz Guillen MIA Beatriz Guillen is a social innovation executive at CAF—banco de desarrollo de América Latina.

2012

Jordan Alexander MPA Jordan Alexander is now a recovery and resiliency fellow at New York City Transit.

Elton Dinga MIA Elton Dinga is a private equity fund accounting analyst at JPMorgan Chase.

Antonio Roldan Mones PEPM Antonio Roldan Mones is secretarygeneral of the European Council of Economic Experts.

Haydée Rodríguez MPA-ESP Haydée Rodríguez advises the InterAmerican Association for Environmental Defense.

Gena Sokolova MPA Gena Sokolova is now head of the finance network at Embark Energy.

2013

Jessica Barrineau MIA Jessica Barrineau married Raymond Carta on August 17, 2013, in Vermont. Jessica is currently chief operating officer at First Access.

Carolina Escolera MPA Carolina Escolera is now a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. State Department.

Melissa Jagnarain MPA Melissa Jagnarain is a consultant at JPMorgan Chase.

Terry Lee MIA Terry Lee recently published a paper in Environmental Quality Management on supply chain sustainability, begun during his Environmental Protection Agency internship (and supported by the Whitman Family Foundation Summer Fellowship in Environmental Policy Studies).

David Robertson MPA David Robertson married Justine Lupo in New York on January 25. David is a vice president of foreign exchange trading at Morgan Stanley.

Ignacio Urrutia MPA-DP Ignacio Urrutia works in disaster risk management for the World Bank.

Akshay Verma MPA Akshay Verma was recently profiled in The Times of India regarding his securing of loans for fish farmers in India.

Nora Zenczak MPA-DP Nora Zenczak is a program associate, early childhood care and development, international programs, at Save the Children USA. José Hunt is an administrative assistant in SIPA’s Office of Communications and External Relations.

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Build the next generation of world leaders by providing support for an education focused on pressing transnational issues: Economic and Political Development, Energy and Environment, Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy, International Finance and Economic Policy, International Security Policy, and Urban and Social Policy.

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SIPANEWS

VOLUME XXVII may 2014 SIPA News is published annually by SIPA’s Office of Communications and External Relations.

Managing Editor: JoAnn Crawford Editor: Fernando Peinado Contributing Writers: Sarayu Adeni, Valle Aviles Pinedo, Jenna Barzelay, Maria José Chea, Alyssa Dubov, José Hunt, Doyeun Kim, Melissa Mayers, Kate Offerdahl, Fernando Peinado, Sara Ray, Jawahar Shah, Dariela Sosa, Marcus Tonti, Dana Watters Contributing Photographers: Barbara Alper, Eileen Barroso, Michael Dames, David Dini, Bruce Gilbert, Yolanda León, Fred Lucas, Marcelo Pereira, Marcus Tonti, Waseem Mardini, Michael Kooren/AFP/Getty Images Design and Production: Columbia Creative School of International and Public Affairs Dean: Merit E. Janow Senior Associate Dean: Anne Waters Associate Deans: Patrick Bohan, Terry Culver, Jesse Gale, Caroline Kay, Dan McIntyre Office of Communications and External Relations Jesse Gale, Associate Dean, Communications and External Relations JoAnn Crawford, Director of Publications and Special Events Phoebe Ford, Associate Director, Digital Media José Hunt, Administrative Assistant Scott Pesner, Director of Alumni Affairs Sara Ray, Administrative Assistant Marcus Tonti, Editorial Director Office of Development and Alumni Relations Terry Culver, Associate Dean of Development Kathryn Cashin, Development Assistant Shu-Zhen Chen, Assistant Director of Donor Relations Tynetta Megginson, Program Coordinator Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs 420 West 118th Street Office of Communications and External Relations 212-854-8671 www.sipa.columbia.edu

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