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dr guy d whitten was awarded the 2019 distinguished achievement award for graduate mentoring dr whitten is currently the acting department head of the political science department at texas a&m university dr whittens primary research and teaching interests are mass political economy comparative politics and political methodology the 2019 distinguished achievement awards will be formally presented at 1:30 pm on monday april 29 during ceremonies in rudder theatre on the texas a&m university campus in recognition of their achievements each recipient will receive a cash gift an engraved watch and a commemorative plaque the recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony on april 29 at 1:30 pm in rudder theatre during the 2019 distinguished day programming on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

dr roblyer has been awarded the 2019 partners in learning award of excellence as part of the accountability climate and equity (ace) awards he is currently a lecturer at texas a&m university department of political science teaching classes for students with diverse majors from engineering to sociology he received the award during the 2019 ace awards ceremony on wednesday april 10th at 11:30 am in the bethancourt ballroom (msc 2300 a&b) the ace awards acknowledge and honor students faculty and staff in honor of their demonstrated commitment to the texas a&m core value of respect by promoting respectful treatment of others affirming and encouraging individuals to take pride in their social and cultural identities and including all in their definition of the aggie family dwight a roblyer awarded the 2019 partners in learning award of excellence on april 10th in the bethancourt ballroom on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

prof diego von vacano has been invited to duke kunshan university in china to give a keynote and participate in a workshop on comparative political theory on april 20 2019 he is an associate professor in the political science department at texas a&m university and was the recipient of a 2018 texas a&m chancellor and board of regents ‘nationally and internationally recognized faculty award dr von vacanos teaching and research interests are in political theory political philosophy and the history of political thought he works mainly in comparative political theory (modern latin american and european political thought); latinx thought; and immigration race & ethnicity his other academic interests include genomics and race as well as gas/oil industries for development prof diego von vacano will be in duke kunshan university in china to give a keynote and participate in a workshop on comparative political theory on april 20 2019 on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

dr susan dynarski will present inequality in education: what have we learned and how can we fix it at an education policy workshop hosted by the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m university the event will be held at the george h w bush library & museum on texas a&ms campus at 5:30 pm with a reception immediately following the lecture is open to the public but reservations are strongly recommended by monday april 22 those wishing to attend can register on the events web page or by calling (979) 845-1927 dynarski is a professor of public policy education and economics at the university of michigan where she holds appointments at the gerald r ford school of public policy school of education department of economics and institute for social research she also serves as co-director of the education policy initiative and the michigan education data center her research focuses on inequality in education the effectiveness of charter schools the optimal design of financial aid and the effect of high school reforms the mosbacher institutes education policy workshops feature noted academics who are invited to discuss their current research the workshops are designed to increase understanding of the research underlying current education policy and how those policies can affect the nations economic future

by hannah falcon ‘21 two college of liberal arts academic advisors rachel nemets of the department of political science and valerie wilson of the department of communication have been elected into executive positions for the texas academic advising network (texaan) after their annual conference in march nemets began serving in her new position as president elect and wilson began her two-year term as vice president of technology texaan offers academic advisors from 151 different universities a chance to gather and learn from each other through webinars and an annual conference nemets and wilson have both presented research at the conference in past years rachel nemets its a professional organization for all academic advisors wilson said a lot of advisors here at texas a&m are part of this organization its a chance for people across texas to come together and talk about advising techniques new information in the discipline and be able to network with each other nemets joined texaan two years ago while she was in graduate school she said texaan is what inspired her to become an academic advisor during my last year of grad school i had to figure out what i wanted to do after i graduated nemets said when i presented at texaan and saw what the organization does and what other advisers do it motivated me to become an advisor at the annual conference members of texaan vote on open executive board positions they choose a new president-elect every year to serve in a three-year term the first year is spent as president-elect then as the active president and finally as past president for a year in her new position nemets said she wants to implement a mentoring program that matches new advisors with experienced advisors the executive board are the ones who plan out the conferences each year nemets said this position as president-elect then president and then past president will give me leadership skills to develop what i may want to do later on in my career wilson chose to run for vice president of technology because she wanted to help texaan improve and grow as an organization i really wanted to be more involved wilson said texaan is an excellent organization for academic advisors it helps us develop professionally and get to know other advisors in our state wilsons role entails managing and improving the texaan website and other digital member services she chose to run for this role because she loves to help people and is tech savvy its getting to be a pretty big organization so that means that we have to manage all our members and manage our website in a pretty professional way wilson said what i do as vice president of technology is manage access to our online items for our executive board nemets said she is nervous about the new challenge of serving as an executive board member for texaan but mostly excited for the new opportunities i try to do what i tell my students: get outside of your comfort zone and do new things because you never know whats out there until you try nemets said if i dont try new things i never know what opportunities will come my way on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

the bush school of government and public service in conjunction with texas a&ms department of history will debut an award-winning film written by texas a&m professor elizabeth cobbs and featuring mark cuban the film is about robotics and the future of employment at a time when artificial intelligence is on the rise the event will take place on april 15 and includes a screening of cyberwork and the american dream as well as a panel discussion the film has a diverse cast and voices like mark cuban andrew mcafee garry kasparov and new york times columnist thomas friedman among other notable scholars and inventors those interested in registering for the event can visit https://wwweventbritecom/e/cyberwork-and-the-american-dream-documentary-screening-panel-tickets-55664632414 cyberwork and the american dream has won several awards including the 2018 humanitarian award for outstanding achievement at indiefest critical selection at the 2019 irvine international film festival and the 2018 best documentary feature at the los angeles film awards the panel discussion following the film debut will be moderated by elizabeth cobbs professor and melbern g glasscock chair in american history and the films writer and producer other panelists will be jonathan coopersmith professor in the department of history; tracy hammond from the department of computer science; justin bullock professor in the bush school of government and public service; and dr soner tarim founder of harmony schools

bush school of government and public service students denise wornig and mariam chikhladze were selected as delegates from the womens international league for peace and freedom (wilpf) to be a part of the 63rd united nations commission on the status of women (csw) the students were able to engage with politicians attend panels and workshops and advocate for wilpfs three core ideas: women peace and security; disarmament; and human rights the commission on the status of women is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women the commission has an annual two-week session where representatives of united nations member states civil society organizations and un entities gather at the un headquarters in new york to discuss emerging issues that affect gender equality and the empowerment of women the conferences theme this year was social protection systems access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls wornig said she was able to use her knowledge from the bush school to partake in various discussions and learn about a wide range of topics about women such as gender budgeting and what her home country of austria does to include women in policy decisions being selected by the womens international league for peace and freedom to attend the 63rd united nations commission on the status of women is a great honor for me it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to know the structures of the un in great detail and experience and be a part of a global policy-shaping process wornig said about her experience wornig added that studying in the program on women peace and security at the bush school with dr valerie hudson prepared her to combine theory with practice wornig said the commission showed her how important it is to have a gender-based approach in any type of work: governmental nongovernmental and the private sector chikhladze said the un session on the status of women was an excellent learning and networking opportunity csw is the biggest gathering of hundreds of organizations from all over the world working on womens empowerment and gender equality issues listening to the reports about pressing issues that women face all around the world was educational and a rewarding experience for her chikhladze plans to use her csw experience to implement policy reforms that will provide social services tailored to the needs of women and girls particularly in her home country of georgia chikhladze said she had the opportunity to choose among 500 events that were running during the week-long csw this unique platform enabled her to network with women leaders from different countries working on gender issues participating in csw 2019 broadened my understanding of the issues prevailing in different parts of the world and exposed me to progressive approaches and policy solutions that proved to be successful in achieving womens empowerment and gender equality chikhladze said

dr guy d whitten was awarded the 2019 distinguished achievement award for graduate mentoring dr whitten is currently the acting department head of the political science department at texas a&m university dr whittens primary research and teaching interests are mass political economy comparative politics and political methodology the 2019 distinguished achievement awards will be formally presented at 1:30 pm on monday april 29 during ceremonies in rudder theatre on the texas a&m university campus in recognition of their achievements each recipient will receive a cash gift an engraved watch and a commemorative plaque the recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony april 29 at 1:30 pm in rudder theatre during the 2019 distinguished day programming

by alix p 18 few aggies know of matthew gaines former slave-turned-senator who was a tireless advocate for the historic land grant act that established texas a&m university but sophomore political science student and president of the matthew gaines task force erica pauls knows of his poignant place in history and she is wasting no time in advocating for his recognition when you think of texas a&ms founding story there is no one who really comes to mind as a key person for that event pauls said people know sul ross saved the university and general rudder re-created it but i think its important to know that matthew gaines is largely responsible for the creation of texas a&m university why ‘we are the aggies as president of the matthew gaines task force pauls seeks to raise both funds and awareness for honoring the contribution of gaines by establishing a statue of him on the texas a&m campus gaines was a slave in fredericksburg texas until the 1863 emancipation during his time in slavery he smuggled books and taught himself to read by candlelight he was elected as a texas state senator in 1869one of only three men to serve as the first african americans in texas senate gaines was known as a passionate and persuasive speaker during his service in the 12th 13th and 14th legislatures coming from a background of slavery and being denied an education he championed the rights for education and african americans in public life and specifically to have education available to the public gaines unwaveringly supported the morrill actthe land-grant college act that would allow for the creation of a public university he was instrumental in the passing of this bill because of it the first public school system for all texans was created in 1871: the agricultural and mechanical college of texas renamed texas a&m university in 1963 matthew gaines is a primary reason ‘we are the aggies pauls said he played an instrumental role in the founding of our university so we want to honor him and give credit where credit is due legacy of leadership pauls is certainly following in the footsteps of gainess leadership she became the president of the matthew gaines task force by taking the initiative and asking for itand her proven dedication granted her the position she desires to honor the story of gaines as someone who deserves recognition and believes now is the time in history where everyone can be recognized serving as the president of the task force is only one avenue of leadership that pauls is pursuing she chose to study political science to learn how to be a leader and learn how other people lead; she chose to become the president of the task force in order to put her in a position that was new and uncomfortable and experience different types of leadership in different contexts i am already seeing my liberal arts education as useful in all realms of my life from studying the philosophy of leadership in political science to public speaking and learning how to work with different kinds of people pauls said but learning to value the art of communication and understanding other peoplethat has been the most valuable thing even more pauls is leading by living out her belief that it is invaluable to recognize a person of colors significant contribution to texas a&ms history especially in this time in our society this initiative shows that someone like mea person of colorcontributed in a big way to the past recognition gives hope for the future that you can do the same she said the goal of the task force is to raise $350 000 by 2020 through endowments for the statue and a scholarship honoring the legacy of gaines pauls believes its imperative to know that the initiative to honor gains has been going on for many yearssince 1996and will not give up until its accomplished we dont want to be a part of ignoring great strides in history pauls said recognizing people like matthew gaines honors the victories of the past and allows it to happen again in the future learn more about the matthew gaines task force and how you can be a part on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

the program on women peace and security (wps) at texas a&m universitys bush school of government and public service has seen a steady increase in student interest since the program was established in 2015 having grown from five students initially to fourteen this year wps is administered by the schools department of international affairs and is directed by dr valerie m hudson holder of the george h w bush chair and an expert on international security and foreign policy analysis as well as gender and security in 2009 foreign policy named hudson one of the top 100 most influential global thinkers the program on women peace and security has created a locus for gender analysis in international affairs through teaching research and outreach the programs foundational course women and nations makes the connection between the security of women and the security of a country the compton foundation provided the programs inaugural funding and its research arm the womanstats project was funded by the us department of defense from 2014 to 2018 wps students and dr hudson recently held an afternoon tea to introduce the wps area of study to students interested in joining the program for the coming academic year and explained the benefits which include receiving a paid membership to women in international security (wise) dr hudson also announced a series of upcoming events sponsored by the wps program including films and speakers coming to the bush school to talk about the intersection of gender and national security the women war and peace 20 film series will take place in march and there will be a speaker in april from the center of bioethics and culture international surrogacy to talk about surrogacy as a transnational human rights issue the wps students will have a luncheon with valerie plame in april as well each student electing to join the wps academic concentration may choose to be a part of a wps-dedicated capstone project focusing on timely issues for the state departments office of global womens issues ((ogwi) this years capstone team will make a presentation to the ogwi usaid and usip about using womens economic empowerment as a way to stabilize security the students will also be presenting to the white house as a part of a new national security presidential directive to empower women in national security students choosing the wps concentration can participate in research linked to relevant issues as well emily jensen a second-year student works for the womanstats program where she collects data on womens security issues jensen is working on a research paper tracking female migration in the wake of abnormal sex ratios when cultures select against having girl babies this affects marriage markets which in turn affects female migration more than male migration dr hudson discussed the programs academic research and event arms to emphasize the work each is doing to empower women for a more secure world bush school students can choose the wps concentration through the mpia degree program

texas a&m bush school students tiffany easter patsy taggart rachel shallow and maria peurach placed in the semifinals in a national cybersecurity competition in washington dc the atlantic councils cyber 9/12 strategy challenge charges the students with developing policy recommendations tackling a fictional cyber catastrophe several bush school students have participated in previous competitions at the university of texas in austin texas and columbia university in new york brian rabaey miranda lindsey tiffany easter and patsy taggart placed in the semi-finals for a similar competition at columbia university tiffany easter second-year master of public affairs student said we as a team are grateful for the opportunity to come to dc and compete on behalf of the bush school were excited to apply what weve learned through our coursework capstones and personal research and join the conversation of how the us can better prepare and respond to cyber incidents were especially thankful to our faculty advisory dr andrew ross and the department of international affairs for making the trip possible! easter reported that one judge at the competition told the students you all made texas a&m proud dean mark welsh made similar comments about the team we are so proud of our incredible bush school cyber team! congratulations to the students who represented us in dc for the national cyber competition!

drs kent portney and bryce hannibal of istpp and mathew kurian of united nations university recently published a paper they coauthored that addresses water reuse goals established by the united nations the authors utilize theory from an agency-based modeling approach to examine thoroughly the united nations water directive on sustainable development goal (sdg) 63 this sdg seeks to minimize pollution dumping and hazardous material in water while increasing the reuse and recycling of water by 2030 their analysis also discusses the efficacy of the wastewater reuse effectiveness index as a tool for institutions to measure change in water reuse patterns kurian portney and hannibal propose an approach to water reuse that focuses on how well researchers understand the myriad of variables that influence the effectiveness of water reuse strategies independent of variance in geographic conditions and institutional change they also argue that accounting for synergies between food water and energy are necessary to ensure coordination between relevant stakeholders in efforts to reuse water they conclude their paper by highlighting that future research needs to focus on decision-making processes for leaders in relation to potential future outcomes as well as what leaders choose to believe or ignore kurian mathew christopher scott v ratna reddy graham alabaster adelaide nardocci kent e portney rizaldi boer and bryce hannibal 2019 one swallow does not make a summer: siloes trade-offs and synergies in the water-energy-food nexus frontiers of environmental science 7 (32): 1-17 https://doiorg/103389/fenvs201900032

dwight a roblyer class of 1984 will be the keynote speaker for the campus aggie muster ceremony on april 22 in reed arena after receiving his undergraduate degree in physics and a minor in psychology roblyer served as an officer of the united states air force until 2011 during this time he earned his masters degree in space operations from the air force institute of technology in 1993 and a phd in political science from a&m in 2009 when he completed his time in the air force roblyer returned to a&m in 2013 to become a lecturer in the department of political science teaching classes for students with diverse majors from engineering to sociology he serves on the a&m honor council was a 2017 fish camp namesake and most recently received one of the eight honoring excellence awards through the office of residence life in 2018 dwight a roblyer class of 1984 will be the keynote speaker for the campus aggie muster ceremony on april 22 in reed arena on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

on thursday april 4 steven simon who served on the national security council in the clinton and obama administrations will deliver remarks at the annenberg presidential conference center on texas a&ms west campus simon will cover the current us policy in syria and the implications for syrias future the lecture will begin at 5:30 pm in hagler auditorium registration is open at txag/1klotvf this event is presented by the department of international affairs and the scowcroft institute of international affairs at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university simon served as senior director for the middle east and north africa on the national security council during the obama administration and as senior director for counterterrorism in the clinton administration he has held appointments with a variety of research institutions including the council on foreign relations the international institute for strategic studies the rand corporation and the middle east institute simon is the author or coauthor of a number of books including the age of sacred terror the next attack the pragmatic superpower: winning the cold war in the middle east and our separate ways: the struggle for the future of the us-israel alliance his op-eds and articles have appeared in the new york times washington post wall street journal foreign affairs and other outlets simon is currently the john j mccloy 16 visiting professor in history at amherst college

on monday march 25 former special agent robert booth will deliver remarks at the annenberg presidential conference center in the george h w bush presidential library and museum on texas a&m universitys campus this event hosted by the scowcroft institute of international affairs at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university is free and open to the public event details and registration can be found at bushtamuedu/events booth former spy hunter will discuss the meaning of counterintelligence and counterespionage including economic espionage versus military and diplomatic espionage he will also talk on the threats spies pose to our national security from the state departments perspective the talk is based on his own experiences from two state department espionage cases involving felix bloch and kendall myers and their impact on us national security booth is the former deputy director of the state departments office of counterintelligence for twenty-eight years he worked in the state departments bureau of diplomatic security and in the office of counterintelligence as a special agent booth also authored state department counterintelligence: leaks spies and lies in which he wrote about his experiences as an insider in three counterespionage cases and numerous unauthorized disclosure investigations one experience involves a us citizen serving as a spy for fidel castro

on march 21 ambassador ryan crocker will give a lecture starting at 5:30 pm in hagler auditorium in the annenberg presidential conference center on texas a&m universitys west campus the department of international affairs the scowcroft institute of international affairs and the albritton center for grand strategy at the bush school of government & public service at texas a&m invites the public to attend this event registration can be found at txag/crocker crocker will speak on us policy in afghanistan including the future of the democratically elected afghan government and the american announcement of negotiations with the taliban aimed at a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops crocker served in the us foreign service as ambassador to afghanistan (2011-12) iraq (2007-2009) pakistan (2004-2007) syria (1998-2001) and lebanon (1990-1991) in 2004 president george w bush conferred on him the rank of career ambassador the highest in the foreign service he is the former dean of the bush school of government & public service at texas a&m university and is a member of the council on foreign relations the american academy of diplomacy and the council of american ambassadors he has received numerous awards throughout his career including the secretary of states distinguished service award and the presidential medal of freedom the nations highest civilian award

tiffany easter designed a bush 41 sweatshirt that raised $3 409 in donations to a local nonprofit that provides services for victims of domestic assault phoebes home personally received the donations from bush school students easter a second-year master of public service and administration (mpsa) student worked with a local business to produce the sweatshirts that she designed four hundred two bush sweatshirts were sold to faculty staff students and even family members of students phoebes home is a part of twin city missions domestic violence services program twin city provides services such as shelter counseling case management legal advocacy safety planning and career assistance to victims of domestic violence and dating violence phoebes home provides twenty-four-hour emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence as well as meals laundry facilities toiletries transportation and recreational activities george h w bush said there could be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others bush school students honor the memory of bush through acts of public service like helping womens shelters

drs kent portney and bryce hannibal published a paper with bassel daher doctoral candidate in the department of biological and agricultural engineering at texas a&m university and dr rabi mohtar dean of the faculty of agricultural and food sciences at the american university of beirut titled toward creating an environment of cooperation between water energy and food stakeholders in san antonio in science of the total environment the authors analyze existing levels of cooperation between regulators of food energy and water in the greater area of san antonio tx this region one of the fastest growing in the united states also has expanding energy and agriculture sectors this growth is straining available food energy and water resources the efficient allocation of these resources can be constrained or enhanced by communication and coordination between stakeholders responsible for making decisions about food energy and water systems to identify the frequency and nature of communications among the nexus stakeholders the authors surveyed public water officials in the san antonio region they collected information on stakeholder concerns communication and participation in engagement forums the authors used social network analysis to delineate which types of agencies communicate and how often they find that while there is little communication among water regulators there is a very low level of dialogue between water agencies and agencies responsible for food and energy they also find that there are increased levels of communication among water regulators that participate in stakeholder engagement activities the authors recommend that more research be done on the medium and quality of communication that corresponds with higher levels of coordination between regulatory authorities daher bassel bryce hannibal kent e portney and rabi h mohtar 2019 toward creating an environment of cooperation between water energy and food stakeholders in san antonio science of the total environment 651: 2913–2926

on tuesday march 19 ambassador ronald neumann will deliver a lecture on american diplomacy in the presidential orientation theater at the george h w bush presidential library and museum on the texas a&m campus a reception will start at 5:30 pm followed by neumanns remarks at 6:00 pm this free event is open to the public and is hosted by the scowcroft institute of international affairs in the bush school of government & public service at texas a&m university to register for the event please visit: txag/neumann he will speak about diplomacys role in politics in different regions specifically american diplomacy in the current geopolitical climate this will include discussing the differences between diplomacy and policy and why professionalism is needed neumann will also speculate on how americas current posture measures up to diplomacys standards and he will discuss the practices of other major powers neumann dedicated his career to public service including serving as an army infantry officer in vietnam; ambassador to algeria bahrain and afghanistan; career member of the senior foreign service; and deputy assistant secretary of state he is the author of memoirs monographs articles and editorials with his writings focusing on afghanistan stabilization and bahrain neumann received many awards throughout his service including the army outstanding civilian service medal and the american foreign service associations award for lifetime contributions to american diplomacy he currently serves as president of the american academy of diplomacy

on monday april 8 former cia operative valerie plame wilson will deliver remarks on her experience as a covert operations officer in the annenberg presidential conference center at texas a&m university there will be a 5:30 pm reception followed by the lecture titled valerie plame: my life as a spy at 6:00 pm event registration can be found at txag/plame the scowcroft institute of international affairs at the bush school of government & public service is hosting this public event wilson will speak on her recruitment by the cia the work she did while in the agency and the details of her identity being compromised which forced her exit from covert operations she will also discuss how and why her identity was leaked and what she took away from the betrayal as a covert operations officer wilson worked to protect us national security and managed top-secret programs designed to prevent terrorists and rogue nation-states from acquiring nuclear weapons in 2003 a source from the white house told a columnist about her identity bringing an end to her covert career in 2007 wilson wrote an autobiography fair game: my life as a spy my betrayal by the white house in which she published the intimate details of the scandal that revealed her identity she also coauthored the fictional spy thrillers blowback and burned wilson continues to serve in intelligence as a board member of a cyber security company global data sentinel and a predictive behavioral analytics agency starling trust she also serves on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations

this years bank of america program on volunteerism on march 26 will serve as a celebration of service volunteerism and philanthropy in texas by highlighting the work of innovative nonprofits statewide efforts to support volunteerism and exemplary corporate citizens that support service and community engagement the evening will begin with a reflection from neil bush on his familys commitment to service following neil bush cecilia abbott first lady of texas will discuss her focus on texanthropy and increasing volunteerism and philanthropy across the state mrs abbott believes that we are called to service and her top priority as first lady is to promote volunteerism and service to others through her texanthropy initiative the bank of america event will then feature a moderated discussion between three leaders from the public nonprofit and corporate sectors that are currently operating in texas the participants will discuss their approach to supporting volunteerism and philanthropy in texas and beyond the panel members are the following• larry james ceo citysquare in dallas has served as ceo since 1994 and leads an innovative nonprofit organization that fights the causes and effects of poverty through service advocacy and friendship• elizabeth darling ceo onestar foundation has a broad background in public policy community development and social service delivery at the local state and federal levels onestar foundation works so that every texas community engages partners and volunteers to address local needs• david oneil region bank president central texas region wells fargo has served for twenty-five years as a bank executive he is engaged in numerous community service activities and has served as a leader in philanthropy in bryan/college station and now as regional president in austin texas the panel is moderated by director of the center for nonprofits and philanthropy and bush school professor william brown

on tuesday march 5 robert kaplan best-selling author and former foreign correspondent for the atlantic will deliver a lecture on modern geopolitics at the annenberg presidential conference center on the texas a&m university campus the talk titled geopolitics in 2019: a granular tour of the world during a new age of empire is free and open to the public sign-in will open at 5:30 pm and kaplan will begin his talk at 6:00 pm registration is open at bushtamuedu/events the event is presented by the scowcroft institute of international affairs at the bush school of government & public service at texas a&m kaplan is the best-selling author of eighteen books on foreign affairs and travel including balkan ghosts and the return of marco polos world he reported on foreign affairs for the atlantic for thirty years previously held the national security chair at the united states naval academy and was a member of the pentagons defense policy board he is now a member of the us navys executive panel a senior fellow at the center for a new american security and a managing director at eurasia group the worlds premier political risk consultancy

on february 27 a distinguished group of panelists gathered to discuss the future of free trade in north america the main speaker was dr jaime serra puche the lead negotiator of the north american free trade agreement (nafta) for mexico following his remarks drayton mclane jr chairman of the mclane group; douglas george acting consul general of the consulate general of canada; jeffrey jones former senator and undersecretary of agribusiness development in mexico; and matthew rooney managing director of the bush institute-smu economic growth initiative joined him on stage for further discussion and questions moderated by dr raymond robertson director of the mosbacher institute the event was cohosted by the mosbacher institute for trade economics & public policy and the mays business school center for international business studies the evening began with a video of president george h w bush speaking to a 1998 bush school class praising nafta and giving jaime serra puche enormous credit for its successful adoption a common thread throughout the evenings commentary was the importance of free trade support for the successes achieved by nafta and the benefits to all three countries of regional cooperation in a competitive global economy dr serras presentation included a number of graphs indicating the complementary nature of north american economic data and showing how many of the three countries economic indicators tend to rise and fall together the symposium also focused on the united states-mexico-canada agreement (usmca) which may replace nafta with some differences of opinion as to its strengths and weaknesses the consensus of the panel was that usmca is a step backwardsnot forwardsfrom nafta and is unfortunately marked by economic protectionism however it was made clear that no free trade agreement among the countries would be the worst possible outcome and that the usmca should be ratified the panelists agreed that the tendency to blame trade deficits on free trade is inaccurate and that the united states trade deficit cannot be decreased by increasing tariffs they said a more effective step would be reducing the federal debt before the symposium dr serra met with a group of bush school students to discuss their questions on free trade and the future of nafta this event touched on the cruciality of free trade and the importance of being neighborly on a global scale dr serra also stressed that the united states mexico and canada should all be on the same side of the negotiating table because a strong regional economy is in the best interest of everyone dr gregory gause iii head of the bush schools international affairs department dr jaime serra puche lead nafta negotiator for mexico douglas george acting consul general of the consulate general of canada drayton mclane jr chairman of the mclane group jeffrey jones former senator and undersecretary of agribusiness development of mexico matthew rooney managing director of the bush institute-smu economic growth initiative

as part of a project funded by the national science foundation istpps dr bryce hannibal and his colleagues dr sierra woodruff and matthew malecha from the college of architecture at texas a&m university are researching the ways in which organizational networks affect the integration of hazard mitigation plans the underlying expectation is that integrated planning and response actions lead to preventive response and recovery measures that are more efficient and effective the researchers surveyed decision makers and professionals selected from key agencies and stakeholders involved with various aspects of risk mitigation planning and response pertaining to infrastructure systems a total of 198 individuals from 109 organizations and 160 unique departments participated in the survey by combining the participants responses with an analysis of disaster and hazard mitigation plans from thirteen texas counties affected by hurricane harvey in 2017 the researchers mapped the extent of collaboration and gaps in the planning process from this they identified well-established networks among some key organizations that is stakeholders from organizations listed in the various plans indicated in their survey responses that they collaborated with these networks as part of their job functions however hannibal woodruff and malecha also found prominent gapssome organizations listed in the plans had little contact with other organizations identified in the plans they will be conducting additional research to address which types of organizations tend to be on the outside of or on the inside of planning networks and where there might be opportunities for increased collaboration in developing and executing disaster and hazard mitigation plans hannibal bryce 2019 the intersection of social and planning networks: a post-harvey study paper presented at the 13th international academic association of planning law and property rights conference college station tx february 22 paper coauthored with sierra woodruff and matthew malecha

dr john schuessler has put american grand strategy front and center since arriving at the bush school of government and public service schuessler is currently researching how we can think more systematically about the united states as an offshore balancer in the grand strategy realm as director of the center for grand strategy schuessler has also been instrumental in hosting events on behalf of the bush schools albritton center for grand strategy (cgs) including a recent one featuring georgetown universitys elizabeth saunders on expanding presidential power in april cgs will cohost with the texas a&m university libraries a symposium on the berlin airlift schuessler arrived in college station in 2016 drawn to the bush schools unique focus on public service the illinois native received his masters and phd from the university of chicago his research interests include security studies american grand strategy and diplomatic and military history he currently is associate professor in the department of international affairs and co-academic director of the albritton center for grand strategy former bush school professor josh shifrinson is working on a project with schuessler about how insular states those that are surrounded by water expand abroad the two professors plan to generate a series of articles from the project when asked about the bush school schuessler said what i like most about the bush school is how devoted the students and faculty are to improving public life and improving public policy and genuinely committing to a life of service

two bush school of government and public service students taking part in the atlantic councils sixth annual cyber 9/12 strategy challenge were charged with developing policy recommendations tackling a fictional cyber catastrophe second-year master of international affairs (mia) candidate patsy taggart placed in the semi-finals at a columbia university atlantic council competition taggart and second-year mia candidate rachel shallow placed well on a team representing the bush school in a regional cyber competition at the university of texas at austin in november 2018 the atlantic council aims to help navigate the economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing an influential network of global leaders to create a more secure and prosperous world now entering its sixth year the cyber 9/12 strategy challenge is a one-of-a-kind competition designed to provide students across academic disciplines with a deeper understanding of the policy challenges associated with cyber crises and conflict part interactive learning experience and part competitive exercise it challenges teams to respond to a realistic evolving cyberattack and analyze the threat it poses to national international and private sector interests bush school faculty member dr andrew ross supervised the teams one of the teams allowed shallow and taggart to engage in a mission to assess and mitigate cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and private industry in the austin simulation participants were given fictional news articles and government reports to help build the situation each round of the competition got progressively harder as both students were questioned about their decisions much like real life the bureaucratic obstacles were the hardest part of responding to a simulated cyberattack shallow said it was a phenomenal experience you have to not only know the material but also understand it said shallow shallow added that the competition provided insight into the inner workings of the department of defense department of homeland security and office of the director of national intelligence because there were employees from these agencies at the competition the texas a&m cybersecurity center provided financial support to the students participating in the competition the austin team consisted of maria peurach rachel shallow miranda lindsey and patsy taggart bush school students brian rabaey miranda lindsey tiffany easter and patsy taggart placed in the semi-finals for a similar competition at columbia university patsy taggart rachel shallow maria peurach and tiffany easter will participate in the next phase of the atlantic council competition in march in washington dc

the center for nonprofits & philanthropy at the bush school of government and public service hosted a lunch and learn session with mr pierce bush ceo of big brothers big sisters lone star (bbbs) pierce bush grandson of president george h w bush and barbara pierce bush reflected on his grandparents legacy and his own life experiences he was only two years old when his grandfather became the 41st president of the united states he spoke of the many memories he has of their time together after president and mrs bush returned to private life in 2009 pierce bush began his own public service journey with bbbs as a volunteer mentor to his little brother jaylyn after completing his undergraduate degree he entered the field of private equity and was appointed to the bbbs board of directors in early 2012 later that same year he joined bbbs as full-time staff focusing on increasing the organizations revenue pierce bush became the ceo of bbbs in august 2015 and instituted a grand vision for his team to chase afterto provide every child in texas who needs and wants one with an adult mentor he spoke of his little brother jaylyn in a heartfelt way along with reflecting on the variety of events theyve attended he was also clear on how much he has learned from jaylyn he commented just like many of the adult volunteers in our program i too have received so much in return from the relationship i have with jaylyn many bush school students said it was one of their favorite events since arriving here jennifer peak nonprofit management student commented pierce was raw; his candid honesty allowed him to laugh at this own jokes and even tear up when talking about his grandparents the attendees thoroughly enjoyed the session and could feel the passion pierce bush has for continuing the bush family legacy and his work in youth mentoring

president george h w bush garnered public admiration over the course of his public service career and his personal staffers shared their stories of the inner workings of the bush white house and bushs style of leadership andy card former secretary of transportation under george h w bush and jean becker chief of staff after bush left office told texas a&m bush school of government and public service students faculty and staff what bush was like in the white house and in his personal life card who also served as white house chief of staff for george w bush recalled a story about how george h w bush comforted the family of a fallen soldier card spoke about how bush knew what it meant to go to war and the human impact it had on americans becker shared the more personal side of president bush and told a story about a prank on roger clemens clemens was visiting the white house and when he touched an object on the oval office desk a recording of bush saying not to touch anything sprung out of it the prank scared clemens but did not scare him away for good the george h w bush presidential library and museum george h w bush presidential library foundation and the scowcroft institute of international affairs hosted the event on presidents day to honor bush in the wake of his recent passing

istpps dr kent portney presented research on governance of the food-energy-water nexus with a focus on the metropolitan san antonio area and the edwards-trinity aquifer system at the texas a&m law schools 10th annual energy law symposium additionally portney discussed how nexus-related challenges increase inefficiencies in allocating and protecting water food and other pertinent common pool resources portney analyzed responses to a survey administered to decision makers in agencies with legal jurisdiction over water in the san antonio area the questionnaire asked respondents about the substance and frequency of contacts and interactions with other water decision makers and decision makers at sixteen energy and twelve food/agriculture agencies survey results suggest that while there are fifty-eight independent government agencies and organizations with legal authority over water in the metropolitan san antonio region there is little nexus governance in the metropolitan san antonio region additionally there is a significant difference in governance practices between water and energy as well as agriculture and energy and fragmentation in nexus decision-making processes is currently the status quo portney concludes that future research needs to determine whether the structure of nexus resource governance is driven by the nature of nexus-related problems or if institutional structures and formal relations between governing agencies inhibits collaboration portney kent 2019 governing the water-energy nexus in the metropolitan san antonio region paper presented at the texas a&m law schools 10th annual energy symposium fort worth tx february 22

in californias solar rooftop experience: a report card the authors take a broad look at the costs and benefits to california rooftop solar adopters affected electric utility companies the government and the environment because of lower carbon emissions using data from academic and industry sources they calculate how much would have been spent on a rooftop solar system for a typical high-consumption residence in 2010 based on the fixed cost of the equipment tax credits and monthly solar savings while allowing that californias energy policies have resulted in a significant increase in the electricity produced by rooftop solar systems the authors argue that californias success came at a very high cost according to their calculations to pass a simple cost-benefit test the environmental cost of a ton of carbon dioxide would have to be almost twenty-four times larger than current damage estimates the authors assert that there are less expensive ways to achieve the same results and recommend a carbon tax as the most cost-effective method for reducing carbon emissions the takeaway is a publication of the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the bush school of government & public service at texas a&m university

professor diego von vacano organized the inaugural ‘yale soccer conference at the yale school of management on february 9-10 2019 he was co-founder with students thairo arruda and joao lacombe the conference was made up of a variety of panels and speakers on many issues related to the global soccer industry themes included sustained commercialization political and legal issues as well as economic impact speakers included world cup winner mario kempes texas a&m graduate fernando palomo of espn charlie stillitano ceo of relevent inc legendary broadcaster andres cantor of telemundo and marta plana board member of fc barcelona benno ruwe of bayern munich presented on the german clubs partnership with texas a&m plans are underway to hold the conference with a&m involvement in the next edition on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

founder and chief elevation officer of activateelevate zillah fluker gave a talk at the bush school of government and public service on thursday february 21 entitled winning relationships such relationships work toward building diversity and benefit the workplace the event is part of the bush school diversity and inclusion committees efforts to celebrate black history month the diversity and inclusion committee is a student-led organization that is part of the student government association its purpose is to provide both a forum for and community of students to discuss issues relating to diversity and inclusion the committee hosted a bingo night on the main campus at texas a&m where students could participate in black history month trivia texas a&m will be having a series of events throughout the month that bush school students are encouraged to attend dr frank ashley senior associate dean for academic affairs who teaches the course managing diversity in public and nonprofit organizations states public servants must have a good understanding of diversity and inclusion because of the diversity of the individuals who may be served by their organizations

on february 13 the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy hosted american economist anne o krueger at a conversations in public policy event focused on the economic impact of president trumps trade policy the lecture attended by about 400 guests was co-hosted by the texas a&m department of economics and the private enterprise research center dr krueger is the senior research professor of international economics at the school for advanced international studies at johns hopkins university and was previously the first deputy managing director of the international monetary fund she also worked at the world bank as vice president of economics and research as well as at a number of prestigious universities her impressive list of publications on economic development international trade and finance and economic policy reform are widely consulted and cited during dr kruegers remarks she credited open trade and the general agreement on tariffs and trade (gatt) as one of the reasons behind the rise in economic development during the post wwii period she also spoke about the positive economic impact of world integration the crucial benefits of multilateralism and the importance of the world trade organization (wto) for promoting and regulating trade she criticized the current administrations move towards bilateralism and increased reliance on tariffs as being counter-productive to their stated goals during the conversation portion of the evening moderated by dr raymond robertson professor krueger elaborated on the usefulness of the wtos role in providing a venue for resolving international trade disputes and noted that the united states has won more disputes there than it has lost she denounced president trumps refusal to approve new wto appellate judges as contributing to future world instability she also explained that tariffs do not cure trade deficits due to macroeconomic reasons before the public lecture dr krueger met with a group of fourteen bush school students within the international development and economic policy program to discuss their questions on international economicsincluding the argentine debt crisis and the economic success of south korea the mosbacher institute is very appreciative of all the time dr krueger was willing to give to the bush school during her visit

on monday feb 18 ambassador edward p djerejian who served under president george hw bush will visit texas a&m university to share his insights on the former presidents foreign policy the event will begin with a reception at 5:30 pm followed by ambassador djerejians remarks at 6 pm in hagler auditorium in the annenberg presidential conference center at texas a&m this event hosted by the scowcroft institute of international affairs in texas a&ms bush school of government and public service is free and open to the public reservations can be made at bushtamuedu/events djerejians presentation will focus on president bushs foreign policy including underscoring coalition building the middle east china and the fall of the berlin wall djerejian currently serves as founding director of rice universitys baker institute for public policy he held the position of assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs under president george hw bush and he is the former us ambassador to syria and israel in addition to president bush ambassador djerejian also worked under presidents ronald reagan and bill clinton during his more than 30 years of public service

some recent editorials have suggested that the national debt which this week surpassed $22 trillion is nothing more than a political football to carry only when its politically convenient but according to dr raymond robertson an economist at texas a&m university bush school of government & public service there are plenty of reasons why ever-increasing us government debt is a real policy issue that should urgently concern americans he highlights a couple of them in two more reasons why the federal debt matters published in the latest takeaway robertson argues that the us federal debt threatens national security and is associated with a higher trade deficit in addition to other possible serious consequences he points out the significant amount of leverage that china gains by holding so much us debt the article also includes graphs illustrating how us debt and trade deficits tend to rise and fall together robertson explains why addressing the us federal debt would be a far more effective way in the long-term to strengthen us trade than imposing tariffs which can only temporarily improve the trade balance before the exchange rate rises and cancels out the effect of the tariffs the takeaway is a publication of the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the bush school at texas a&m university

on thursday february 28 professor david shambaugh will give a lecture on the relationship of the us and china over the forty years since the establishment of diplomatic relations there will be a reception at 5:30 pm followed by the lecture at 6 pm at the hagler auditorium in the annenberg presidential conference center on texas a&m universitys campus the scowcroft institute of international affairs in the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university is sponsoring this event which the public is invited to attend register to attend at bushtamuedu/events professor shambaugh will delve into the accomplishments born from the us and china relationship and the severe strain and increasing competition experienced today shambaugh will share what these difficulties could mean for future relations between the worlds two primary powers professor david shambaugh serves as the founding director of the china policy program in the elliott school of international affairs at george washington university where he is also the gaston sigur professor of asian studies political science & international affairs he serves on numerous editorial boards; has been a consultant to governments universities corporations and others; and is a life member of the council on foreign relations us asia-pacific council and other public policy and scholarly organizations professor shambaugh is also the author of more than thirty books including his most recent books chinas future and the china reader: rising power both published in 2016

drs bryce hannibal and kent portney recently published an article titled correlates of food-energy-water nexus awareness among the american public in social science quarterly hannibal and portney examine public awareness of the food-energy-water nexus and identify predictors explaining awareness and public interest the data used for the analysis comes from a nationally representative survey administered in 2015 in which respondents were asked twenty-nine questions intended to extract their potential awareness of food-energy-water nexus elements the survey had a 61 percent response rate with 1 463 total responses drs hannibal and portney treated respondents nexus awareness as the dependent variable for their study and focused on respondents educational attainment level individual demographics environmental concerns and a series of other characteristics as explanatory variables analysis of the responses suggests demographic characteristics show little relationship to overall nexus awareness the study shows that people often make connections among food energy and water in the context of concerns about wasting these resources results also suggest that when the elements of the nexus are discussed in the context of wasting resources people are able to identify stronger connections among resources and may make decisions supporting a more efficient and sustainable use of food energy and water the authors conclude that researchers need to focus more on the food-energy-water nexus and on why some people exhibit greater awareness of the nexus than others do hannibal bryce and kent portney 2019 correlates of food-energy-water nexus awareness among the american public social sciences quarterly 100 (3): 762–778 doi: 101111/ssqu12590

jasen castillo academic director of the albritton center for grand strategy was quoted in an article titled trumps decision to nuke a key us-russia treaty fuels a simmering global arms race published in mother jones magazine on february 5 2019 you can find the article online here

researchers from the scowcroft institute of international affairs at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university in collaboration with researchers from baylor college of medicine are conducting the largest study in over half a century on the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases in the southern united states neglected tropical diseases (ntds) also known as diseases of poverty affect one billion people globally although commonly thought of as a problem of the developing world an estimated 12 million americans are living with at least one ntd and most of these individuals are concentrated in the south the american south possesses a specific combination of risk factors that create a breeding ground for various ntds inadequate housing and poor sanitation are major factors related to infection with ntds and these factors are significant problems in many impoverished areas of the southern united states dr christine crudo blackburn an assistant research scientist with the scowcroft institute is leading the study to determine the prevalence of toxocariasis hookworm and ascariasis as well as the social and environmental factors that allow for their existence in the southern us dr rojelio mejia assistant professor in the department of pediatrics and director of the laboratory of clinical parasitology and diagnostics at baylor college of medicine led a 2017 study on the prevalence of hookworm in lowndes county alabama he oversees the laboratory testing of all collected samples for this study because ntds in the united states exist in areas of extreme poverty blackburn and mejia focused their research on rural areas of the southern united states with median family incomes of under $25 000to date the study contains participating communities from three southern states and is in the process of enrolling additional communities from four other states once completed the study will provide a more accurate picture of the problem of ntds in the united states

dr elizabeth saunders associate professor in the security studies program at georgetown universitys school of foreign service spoke to a full house at the bush library on wednesday evening january 30 2019 saunders lecture based on her article the unconstrained presidency published in the october/november 2018 issue of foreign affairs discussed the gradual erosion of the limitations on us executive power in the decades since world war ii and how that relatively unchecked power has become more visible in the actions of recent administrations saunders also talked about the significance of the 2018 midterm elections and resulting changes in congress and identified some legislative measures that could help restrain the growing footprint of presidential power however saunders noted even the increasing public pushback against the current administration serves as a warning sign that the traditional constraint system remains broken and any significant solution to the problem will be difficult to secure in todays polarized political climate the bryan-college station eagle article on the event can be found here event details the unconstrained presidency elizabeth saunders associate professor school of foreign servicegeorgetown university wednesday january 30 20195:30 pm george hw bush presidential library and museum conference center the albritton center for grand strategy presents a lecture by dr elizabeth n saunders on her article published in foreign affairs titled the unconstrained presidency discussing the recent trend of increasing presidential power in the united states dr elizabeth n saunders is an associate professor in the security studies program at georgetown universitys school of foreign service and a non-resident senior fellow at the brookings institution

texas a&m bush school of government and public service student alex lam takes his next step toward a career in federal government with a two-year appointment to the presidential management fellows (pmf) program which offers advanced degree candidates a pathway into a career in public service the prestigious presidential management fellows program is a flagship leadership development program aimed at training the next generation of public servants the pmf is highly competitive; only 500 to 800 applicants are accepted each year from the more than 8 500 who apply the pmf also offers help in the full-time career application process and provides graduates of the program help in finding higher-tier positions within federal agencies pmf bush school alumni currently serve in the departments of treasury state and usaid lam is a second-year bush school master of international affairs student who wants to work at the department of state or usaid on issues in the middle east for his two-year pmf stint he is specifically interested in helping the future of this crucial area of the world and how it influences american foreign policy lam said his long-term career goal is to make policy in innovative ways that promote american interests and values i am only able to become a finalist for the pmf program because of the valuable lessons in leadership academic subjects and public service ive gained at the bush school im honored to have been selected and intend to use this opportunity to start my career in public service and continue the public service legacy of president george h w bush on behalf of the american people lam said i am very pleased and so proud that alex has been named a presidential management fellow said bush school dean mark welsh the schools goal is to prepare and encourage our students to pursue a career in public service and i congratulate alex for his dedication to serving the american people welsh added

on january 29 2019 the albritton center for grand strategy hosted a roundtable discussion with andrew roberts british historian and acclaimed biographer of winston churchill and several bush school students the group discussed lessons learned from churchills experience as a wartime leader topics ranged from the gallipoli campaign in world war i to churchills approach to alliances

an essay by dr john schuessler cgs academic director titled democracy war and american grand strategy was published in the texas national security review on january 29 2019 the essay originally published as part of a roundtable in taxing wars: the american way of war finance and decline of democracy (oxford university press 2018) by sarah kreps can be read online here

istpp director kent portney published a paper with bush school alumnus lindsey aldaco-manner and istpp fellow rabi mohtar titled analysis of four governance factors on efforts of water governing agencies to increase water reuse in the san antonio region in science of the total environment growing urban areas particularly those in drier climates face conflicting demands for scarce water resources in such areas some water planning agencies are looking to water reuse as a way to increase supply their efforts are often complicated by the multitude of local regional and state organizations that govern the availability uses and quality of the water resources to identify key ways that governance contributes to an increase in water reuse the authors studied the efforts of water agencies and organizations in two san antonio regions to meet water reuse goals established by the texas water development board (twdb) factors of particular interest involved the relationship between agency and organization efforts to increase water reuse and their familiarity with twdb water supply strategies and their frequency of communication with twdb the researchers also looked at the relationship between the type of water agency or organization and their level of efforts to increase water reuse using data from a survey of water governing agencies and organizations in the two regions of san antonio the authors find that about 58% of do not communicate with state water planners yet those agencies that communicate more often with twdb report more efforts to increase water reuse this result is statistically significant and points to a strong need to find ways to increase communication taken together all four factors listed above account for almost 30% of agency water reuse efforts aldaco-manner lindsey rabi mohtar and kent e portney 2019 analysis of four governance factors on efforts of water governing agencies to increase water reuse in the san antonio region science of the total environment 647: 1498–1507 doi: 101016/jscitoenv201807366

dr arnold vedlitz dr bryce hannibal and ms carol goldsmith of the institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) are partnering with other texas a&m researchers to identify and examine how the dynamics of planning policies flood control infrastructures and the social networks in which these efforts operate affect the capacity of urban communities to quickly recover from major flooding the national science foundations (nsf) critical resilient interdependent infrastructure systems and processes (crisp) program has awarded a $2 million grant to support this research which will focus on harris county texas and the flooding caused by hurricane harvey dr vedlitz co-principal investigator on the project and professor and holder of the bob bullock chair in government and public policy at the bush school of government and public service will lead the istpp research team in an in-depth examination of planning and decision-making processes and the social network interactions that occur across the local and regional stakeholder groups involved in these efforts as dr vedlitz points out these interactions affect both the planning for and response to natural disasters the effectiveness of these interactions create the planning physical infrastructure and resource networks for responding to disasters which in turn affect the quality of actual responses once a disaster occurs the teams goal is to model how inter-organizational dynamics and decision-making processes in human systems affect the management of interdependent flood protection emergency response and transportation infrastructure systems using data collected from a series of surveys of key stakeholders dr hannibal istpp assistant research scientist will develop comprehensive maps of the social network structure of the stakeholder groups the team will analyze the structure of these networks identifying core clusters of groups that have frequent communications and which of these clusters are connected to other clusters and by analyzing the time series of network maps dr hannibal explains well be able to identify events and practices that encourage the integration of these networks and their hazard mitigation plans along with circumstances that tend to lead to conflicting plans or gaps in the plans ms goldsmith senior research associate and assistant director of the institute will lead the administration of grant activities for the institute she will coordinate development and implementation of the surveys and provide general research support to the lead investigators insights gained from the project will be shared with a broad spectrum of planners policy makers community organizations and other relevant groups to help them make evidence-based decisions to improve the resilience of their communities dr ali mostafavi of tees and the zachry department of civil engineering is the lead principal investigator of the project other co-principal investigators on the team include dr phillip berke professor in the department of landscape architecture and urban planning and director of the institute for sustainable communities; dr sierra woodruff assistant professor in the department of landscape architecture and urban planning; and dr bjorn birgisson professor in the department of civil engineering

as washington debates president trumps new tariffs and renegotiated nafta noted economist dr anne krueger will discuss the economic impact of these trade policies at the texas a&m bush school of government and public service on wednesday feb 13 the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy will feature dr krueger at its spring conversation in public policy following dr kruegers remarks dr raymond robertson a bush school economics professor and mosbacher institute director will further explore the topic with dr krueger in an on-stage conversation the event which is cohosted by the texas a&m department of economics and the private enterprise research center will be held at the annenberg presidential conference center on the texas a&m university campus a reception will begin at 5 pm with dr krueger speaking at 5:30 pm the lecture is open to the public but reservations are strongly recommended by monday feb 11 dr krueger was first deputy managing director of the international monetary fund from 2001 to 2006 and is now the senior research professor of international economics at the school for advanced international studies johns hopkins university her impressive career includes working at the world bank as vice president of economics and research as well as at a number of prestigious universities her extensive list of publications on economic development international trade and finance and economic policy reform are widely consulted and cited

the albritton center for grand strategy at texas a&m universitys bush school of government and public service is hosting dr elizabeth n saunders from the school of foreign service at georgetown university saunders will present a lecture on her foreign affairs article the unconstrained presidency which discusses the recent trend of increasing presidential power in the united states the event will take place on wednesday january 30 2019 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm in the orientation theater at the george h w bush presidential library and museum conference center elizabeth n saunders is an associate professor in the security studies program at georgetown universitys school of foreign service saunders specializes in the domestic politics of international relations and united states foreign policy specifically the role of leaders the presidency and the politics of using force saunders has work published in foreign affairs international studies quarterly and journal of conflict resolution she is a nonresident senior fellow at the brookings institution

seven graduate students from the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university will have the opportunity for direct engagement with state government in the spring semester bush school professor dr ann bowman will guide students as they work for members or committees during the 86th session of the texas legislature which convenes january 8 2019 the students responsibilities include researching policy issues and drafting and analyzing bills as they assist legislators serving the people of texas the legislative process is fascinating and important and this capstone puts students in the thick of the action dr bowman said a legislative bill starts as an idea and travels a long complex path before it emerges as law about 6 000 bills are introduced during a typical legislative session in texas and only about 20% of them are enacted capstone students spend the fall semester learning about legislative bodies in general and the texas house and senate in particular students are required to take two classes during the semester on top of their legislative work since 2011 five sets of bush school students have participated in this capstone which occurs every other year some students have stayed in their positions beyond the legislative session others have found employment in state agencies or with interest groups after the session ends when the semester comes to a close students submit a research report on a relevant issue in previous years the texas legislative capstones have studied the legislative redistricting process the texas rainy day fund and the professionalization of state legislatures

dr frank ashley teaches students about diversity in nonprofit organizations and how diversity not only includes racial and sexual differences it also includes differences in ability sexual orientation religion culture immigration status and other areas ashley is the senior associate dean for academic affairs and senior professor at the bush school of government and public service ashley said he enjoys being a devils advocate in his courses because he wants to ensure that his students will leave the class knowing how to defend their various positions they may take on a subject he tackles tough issues like culture race and religion and enjoys challenging his students points of view dean ashley frequently expresses he has hope for the future of the state country and world because of bush school students desire to enter public service and to make a difference when i go home every day i know our world is going to be okay ashley said he also said the thing that gets me excited about this place is the passion that i see in every student that i interact with for serving others his favorite part of teaching is interacting with students and he feels he is called to be at the bush school ashley believes every student would benefit from enrolling in a class in diversity and stressed the importance of diversity in the current political climate in america leaders of organizations need to understand the role that diversity and inclusion plans in allowing each member to feel they are accepted and a contributing member before coming to the bush school ashley previously worked at the college board in new york where he was senior vice president of membership and higher education engagement and for seven years at the texas a&m university system as vice chancellor along with teaching the managing diversity course as senior associate dean ashley oversees graduate education and research activities other responsibilities include strategic planning faculty affairs student affairs program development diversity assessment communications and external relations student services and extended education programs in the bush school the bush school would like its strategic growth to result in a more diverse population and ashleys team is tasked with drawing a diverse population to the bush school ashley is currently researching issues facing university chief diversity officers and their concerns over the next five to ten years his previous research analyzed concerns minority faculty members have at universities with low percentages of minority staff members

bush school students recently participated in a day designed to celebrate philanthropic efforts in the local community the bush school chapter of the association for fundraising professionals held the local national philanthropy day highlighting charitable work in the local community one of more than 100 similar events held throughout north america in 2018 bush students taking part in the celebration wrote thank you notes to recent bush school donors the day also recognized several philanthropic activities conducted at the school during the fall semester the celebration was jointly hosted by the schools association for fundraising professionals (afp) and the center for nonprofits and philanthropy afp recruited volunteers to help from several bush school student organizations including the public service organization bush school ambassadors public service leadership program and committee for global philanthropy afp is a new student organization and this celebration reflected 18 months of organizing and building alliances culminating in afp several bush school students were recognized for their unique philanthropic initiatives tiffany easter a member of the 2019 class created a sweatshirt sale in november to raise funds for phoebes home which provides services to victims of domestic violence and dating violence the funds were to help phoebes home provide holiday gifts to those it serves gandy osburn and cannon tate also 2019 students designed a christmas card campaign that allowed students to write cards for adults with autism at the autism services of southwest louisiana both students will deliver the cards at the end of the semester as part of the celebration the students listed their personal philanthropic activities and their own definition of philanthropy: helping those less fortunate than themselves serving something bigger than themselves empowering others and providing hope like their peers the students posted a picture on facebook to demonstrate their commitment to philanthropy and to advertise their new organization

bush school dean mark welsh announced that christi voelkel has joined the bush school staff as assistant dean for strategic and developmental planning a graduate of texas a&m university voelkel also holds a masters degree from the university of oklahoma and has more than eighteen years experience in marketing and communications including advocacy public and media relations strategic planning and community and development relations in both the public and nonprofit sectors voelkel comes to the bush school from the george h w bush presidential foundation where she served as senior director of programming and communications she was responsible for strategic planning and execution of all foundation events and communications efforts as well as for facilitating collaborations with other related entities including the bush school and other texas a&m affiliates she also worked directly with the former presidents office on initiatives events and media on behalf of president bush she served as the lead for the highly successful deep from the heart: one america appeal event featuring all five of the former presidents which raised more than $43 million in support of hurricane relief she was also a leader in the planning and execution of the texas a&m and bush foundation roles in the funeral of mrs barbara p bush voelkels wide-ranging experience included the creation of the lily voelkel foundation which supported deaf and blind individuals and their families in addition to fundraising she also developed the organizations website donation portal marketing and giving plans while at texas a&m galveston voelkel established the first of its kind development communications manager position working with the universitys leadership to support strategic initiatives for the university as assistant dean voelkel will be responsible for planning and implementing the schools strategic and long-range goals incorporating the vision of dean welsh the faculty and staff and other administrative units she will also coordinate and support the schools alumni and donor relations activities and will develop outreach initiatives that reflect the schools academic and service goals voelkel said she looks forward to working with the faculty the administration staff and students to advance the bush school i am honored to join the team at the bush school i look forward to supporting the strategic alignment of the faculty and staff to pursue the distinctions of best in class in education and example amongst public service institutions voelkel said i passionately support the timeless creed of president george h w bushthat to engage in a cause greater than oneself makes better the lives of others this sounds simple but is life-changing; and the bush schools faculty staff students and graduates are a positive reminder that the spirit of our great nation is alive and well i am delighted to have christi as a member of our bush school leadership team said dean welsh her experience in the private public and nonprofit sectors will be invaluable as we continue to develop plans and resources to support the schools mission

adm (ret) james stavridis natos 16th supreme allied commander europe and 15th commander of the us european command warned students faculty and members of the community about a range of challenges facing the united states while advising that american grand strategy not neglect soft factors like gender or humanitarian aid to countries suffering from war or natural disasters stavridis was speaking at texas a&m university to help launch the new albritton center for grand strategy at the bush school of government and public service texas a&m board of regents member robert l albritton for whom the albritton center is named kicked off the evening by stressing the importance of giving back and how his funding of the cgs will help make sure america stays great albrittons family members have been donors to the bush school for a long time and he noted this is a family accomplishment on 9/11 stavridis was just a short distance away from where one of the hijacked planes hit the pentagon he used this as an example of how walls will not keep us safe stavridis covered modern challenges like global narcotics the so-called islamic state putins hybrid warfare climate change and pandemics in a sweeping discussion of where the united states can improve its grand strategy despite these challenges stavridis ended on an optimistic note telling the audience that americans need to listen to each other better in order to bridge the gaps among them and solve important problems the new albritton center for grand strategy will support research that takes a fresh look at americas grand strategic choices foster dialogue between scholars and practitioners and help train a new generation of public servants who will be grand strategic innovators dr john schuessler and dr jasen castillo are the academic directors of the center

sly mata wants to create a better environment for students in higher education and he is using the bush school of government and public services community as an example to do just that mata graduated from the bush school in 2011 with a master of public service and administration he is now pursuing a phd in higher education leadership and policy studies mata worked as an assistant director of diversity and inclusion and then associate director at cornell university following his graduation from the bush school he said the bush school community allowed him to be successful at the prestigious ivy league university to achieve his goal of improving the campus environment and public policy for people of color women and all students he feels the need to diversify his skills mata is therefore attending the university of houston for his phd and is studying affordability tuition deregulation mental health and trauma within students after his education is complete he would like to stay in higher education but most notably wants to have an impact wherever he is i just want to know what im doing is making a difference for students mata said mata expressed gratitude for his support system at the bush school dr lori taylor and dr dominic bearfield serve as mentors to the doctoral candidate regarding dr bearfield who no longer works at the university mata said that man is my lifeline his peers have served to prop him up throughout the years as well public service has played a big role in matas career he said being a good public servant is important for university administrators and faculty public service has always stayed with me mata said being a person of his word is also something mata holds in high esteem as well as commitment and loyalty to what students and parents need in order to make sure students have a good experience at college

on behalf of the entire bush school former student network we send our thoughts and heartfelt condolences to the entire bush family on the passing of president george h w bush we were blessed to have president bush an extraordinary public servant as the patriarch and namesake of our bush school family and we are grateful for the immeasurable impact that he had and continues to have on the bush school and on the lives of all of the former students while president bush will certainly be remembered as one of the most experienced public servants in us history as a celebrated world war ii combat pilot congressman pioneering diplomat director of the cia vice president and ultimately president many of us will remember him through our fond memories of him at the bush school whether it was a brief smile and hello as he walked his dogs around the pond time spent with him in the classroom watching him skydive to celebrate his birthday or the opportunity to share time with him and mrs bush in their residence at the bush school in college station president bush will hold a special place in the hearts of many former students though we will miss seeing his smile and hearing his witty sarcasm and feisty jokes we will strive to honor his memory and legacy by being public servants in every aspect of our lives president bush will always be a point of light for every former student reminding us of the power of service and guiding us as we work to make a difference in the world every day of our lives he truly was a great man who will influence generations to come with his integrity honor compassion and humble brilliance his life is a testament that reinforces the six core values of texas a&m university which we all aspire to embody everyday: excellence integrity leadership loyalty respect and selfless service our thoughts today are with him and the entire bush familypresident shannon dubberly class of 2004 & 2007vice president taylor g smith class of 2010 & 2013secretary robby stephany smith class of 2014treasurer david fujimoto class of 2017 lt col (ret)

im so sorry to announce that george hw bush the 41st president of the united states passed away on 30 november at his home in houston his unparalleled legacy of public service will continue to inspire all of us at the bush school as will his personal example as a husband father grandfather and great grandfather he was absolutely committed to making the bush school of government and public service a place where men and women who were called to serve their fellow citizens came to prepare themselves for the challenge since the first class entered these halls the school has reflected his passion for public service as a noble calling his commitment to making that vision a reality undergirds all we do at the school today we seek to inculcate in our students his life-long values of service to others the importance of education and his dedication to excellence from its very beginning president bush was an active participant in the schools activities as he forged a strong connection with our students and faculty sharing his broad experience and expertise freely and enriching the experience for each of them his visits to the campus were the highlight of the academic year as was his unassuming manner which put students at ease in talking with and learning from him all of us associated with the bush school now mourn the loss of this remarkable man who served our nation so proudly and with such incredible honor we will strive to be worthy of his devotion to the school and will honor his lifes work by continuing to pass on to our students the principled leadership and professional values he demonstrated throughout his life we send our deepest sympathy to the entire bush family and all those who knew and loved him

retired four-star navy admiral and former nato commander james stavridis spoke wednesday night of the possibilities of global unrest terrorism global warming and potential international pandemics to underscore the importance of the bush schools creation of the albritton center for grand strategy read the full article from the eagle online

dr kenneth anderson taylor is clear on what he hopes to accomplish at the bush school his focus is advancing the schools mission of developing principled leaders for public service born and raised on the south side of chicago without a father until his mother remarried when he was nearly a teenager dr taylor is sure that experience contributed to his desire to assist youth as an adult when an undergraduate student all i knew is i wanted to help children that grow up like i did this led him to work toward becoming a social worker and he realized that goal when he went to work for big brothers big sisters in 1996 in reflecting on his twelve-year career with this nonprofit the largest youth mentoring organization in the world he believes it provided an avenue to helping children in similar situations and he could not have thought of a more satisfying profession at the time after progressing to the position of ceo of big brothers big sisters in austin texas dr taylor began to think about his next journey i knew i wanted to do something different but i also didnt want my experience in the nonprofit sector to go waste it didnt take long for him to decide on higher education he had always admired several of his former professors who helped guide him and also knew (if he made it) higher education potentially provided the opportunity to advocate for public service as a career option for students just like anyone else attempting to plot out a new career dr taylor identified the best nonprofit programs in higher education and the bush school immediately made it to the top of his list my path here wasnt easy over the course of several years i taught at an hbcu (a historically black college/university) a two-year college and a small teaching university in western kentucky since landing at the bush school as an assistant professor of the practice working with students who already have the intent to serve others in some capacity has made his arrival that much more special according to dr taylor his original thought of wanting to advocate to students for careers in public service as a viable profession is nothing compared to already being in such an environment in addition to spending time with students and encouraging them in the public service direction his interactions with students are focused on sharpening their hard skills and deepening their personal leadership capacity as for his tips to students in terms of what subsector they should considering pursuing he first advises them to reflect on to what extent they are willing to put others needs ahead of their own public service isnt for everyone so this is a fair question for students to routinely consider from there he compares public service to donors who give to charitable causes they have personally been affected by and advises students to reflect on their life experiences when deciding where to work in the public or nonprofit sector he believes students can never go wrong seeking advice from those they desire to emulate dr taylor is trained as a leadership behaviorist and conducted his dissertation research exclusively within nonprofits his transition out of the nonprofit sector into academia coincided with what many researchers coined the nonprofit leadership deficitwhich raises questions about where tomorrows nonprofit talent will come from follow-up studies regarding this issue have now indicated talent already exists at nonprofits but there is a lack of leadership development within the nonprofit sector and employees simply dont hang around long enough to advance in their careers having investigated the link between leader behavior within nonprofit organizations and employee job satisfaction dr taylors research supports the idea that nonprofit leaders who employ good leadership behaviors tend to fend off turnover because of dissatisfaction with pay and opportunities for promotion which are two areas commonly cited as reasons nonprofit employees move on dr taylors primary faculty responsibilities encompass supervising capstone seminars and teaching grant management and leadership theory courses he is currently developing a series of online continuing education leadership courses for nonprofit professionals whether students who take his courses or those he advises his goal is to challenge them with real-world scenarios with the hope that this enriches their educational experience and comes in handy when they work with or lead others dr taylor was recently appointed a faculty fellow within the college of architectures center for health systems & design has been a diversity fellowship reviewer for tamus office of graduate and professional studies and is the advisor for the nu delta delta undergraduate chapter of omega psi phi fraternity inc the organization he pledged as an undergraduate student and is now a proud lifetime member of more personally dr taylor is an admirer of art and learned to quilt from his mother enjoys hunting for antiques and is a self-proclaimed classic car guy

please join us for the kick-off event launching the new bush school center for grand strategy the event will feature a talk by admiral james stavridis natos 16th supreme allied commander europe and 15th commander of the us european command (2009-2013) head of us southern command (2006-2009) dean of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university chief international security analyst for nbc news operating executive consultant event details center for grand strategy kick-off event the future of us grand strategy november 28 2018 | 6:15 pm annenberg presidential conference center1002 george bush drive westcollege station tx 77843 please join us for the kick-off event launching the new bush school center for grand strategy the event will feature a talk by admiral james stavridis natos 16th supreme allied commander europe and 15th commander of the us european command (2009-2013) head of us southern command (2006-2009) dean of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university chief international security analyst for nbc news operating executive consultant speaker biography adm james stavridis usn (ret) natos 16th supreme allied commander europe and 15th commander of the us european command (2009-2013); head of us southern command (2006-2009); dean of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university (2013-2018); chief international security analyst for nbc news; operating executive the carlyle group; chair board of counselors of mclarty global associates florida native jim stavridis attended the us naval academy at annapolis and spent 37 years in the navy rising to the rank of 4-star admiral among his many commands were four years as the 16th supreme allied commander at nato where he oversaw operations in afghanistan libya syria the balkans and piracy off the coast of africa he also commanded us southern command in miami charged with military operations through latin america for nearly three years he was the longest serving combatant commander in recent us history following his military career he served for five years as the 12th dean of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university in the course of his career in the navy he served as senior military assistant to the secretary of the navy and the secretary of defense he led the navys premier operational think tank for innovation deep blue immediately after the 9/11 attacks he won the battenberg cup for commanding the top ship in the atlantic fleet and the navy league john paul jones award for inspirational leadership along with more than 50 us and international medals and decorations including 28 from foreign nations he also commanded a destroyer squadron and a carrier strike group both in combat in 2016 he was vetted for vice president by secretary hillary clinton and subsequently invited to trump tower to discuss a cabinet position with president donald trump he earned a phd from the fletcher school at tufts winning the gullion prize as outstanding student in his class in 1983 as well as academic honors from the national and naval war colleges as a distinguished student he speaks spanish and french admiral stavridis has published eight books on leadership the oceans maritime affairs and latin america as well as hundreds of articles in leading journals an active user of social networks he has tens of thousands of connections on the social networks his ted talk on 21st century security in 2012 has had over 800 000 views he tweeted the end of combat operations in the libyan nato intervention his memoir of the nato years the accidental admiral was released in october 2014 and he had two books out in 2017: the leaders bookshelf: 50 books that make us better leaders in march and sea power: the history and geopolitics of the oceans in june admiral stavridis is also the chair of the board of the us naval institute the professional association of the nations sea services: navy marine corps coast guard and merchant marine he is a monthly columnist for time magazine and chief international security analyst for nbc news he is happily married to laura and they have two daughters – one working at google and the other a registered nurse and former naval officer both married to physicians

the texas a&m university system board of regents recently approved the naming of the albritton center for grand strategy (cgs) at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university a 1971 graduate of texas a&m university mr albritton was appointed to the board of regents in 2015 by governor greg abbott he served in the united states air force prior to beginning a distinguished career that included founding a number of diversified businesses including albritton energy albritton partners and mayfair investments where he is currently chairman and ceo the center was established as an intellectual hub for the critical examination of american grand strategy including supporting research that will take a fresh look at americas grand strategic choices two of its primary goals are to foster dialogue between scholars and practitioners in the field and to help train a new generation of public servants to be grand strategic innovators bush school dean mark welsh noted that this center will provide a unique opportunity for scholars practitioners and students to study the concepts involved in grand strategy research and implementation grand strategy as a concept is a way of looking at the plans policies and resource allocation decisions that define a nations effort to use the political military diplomatic and economic instruments of power to advance its national interest welsh said this new center at the bush school gives our students a unique opportunity to study this academic discipline with our own faculty as well as experts from around the nation and the world it also gives our two superb academic directors the chance to advance their own research and support the development of other grand strategy scholars a greater bench is this field of study clearly benefits our nation over time the centers academic programs will be directed by two members of the bush schools department of international affairs associate professor jasen castillo is the evelyn and ed f kruse 49 faculty fellow prior to joining the bush school castillo worked in the department of defenses planning office and was an analyst at the rand corporation where his research focused on military strategy nuclear deterrence and wmd terrorism associate professor john schuessler previously taught at the air war college his research emphases include democracy and war as well as american grand strategy the center will be officially launched on november 28 with a presentation by admiral james stavridis natos 16th supreme allied commander europe and 15th commander of the us european command (2009-2013) head of us southern command (2006-2009) and former dean of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university

former bush school of government and public service student chris hill conducted research on global democratic erosion that helped land him a job at usaid he worked as a scowcroft institute fellow and created a database for the findings as a part of his position at the bush school hill earned the scowcroft summer fellowship immediately following his capstone work bush school students are required to participate in a capstone projectan integrative team-based applied research project that is a program requirement the projects fully prepare students to supervise conduct and evaluate large-scale public policy research and culminate in a formal written report and oral presentation to the client hill and his colleagues created the democratic erosion event dataset webpage over the summer as a part of the democratic erosion collaborative course taught around the world hill individually presented at the washington dc biannual usaid center of excellence for democracy rights and governance partners forum he was offered the opportunity to network with partners to display the database and website he also presented with dr jessica gottlieb at the democratic erosion conference at brown university in august i began the fellowship by continuing to work on our capstone reports we werent able to include everything that we hoped to in the two reports due to time constraints so i focused on that in addition to some copy editing afterwards the bulk of my work related to the construction of our website this was new work but it was highlighting materials that the capstone team put together during the spring semester (eg putting the database online) hill said hills experiences have launched his career in washington he used the skills and ongoing research in collaboration with usaid to land a job in the nations capital he works at a usaid office of transition initiatives on a program implementing the 2016 peace agreement between the government of colombia and the revolutionary armed forces of colombia (farc) given the professional development opportunities that the fellowship provided me im very grateful to both the scowcroft institute of international affairs and dr gottlieb for the opportunity to serve in this role and i would encourage current bush school students to consider the fellowship as they make their post-graduation plans hill said

dr arnold vedlitz is part of a multidisciplinary engineering research team that recently received the engineering genesis award for multidisciplinary research the award was presented during a meeting of the texas engineering experiment station (tees) external advisory board vedlitz holds the bob bullock chair in government and public policy at the bush school and is also division head for the science technology and public policy division at the texas engineering experiment station the award is presented to tees researchers who have secured significant research grants of $1 million or more working with colleagues in other colleges at texas a&m dr ali mostafavidarani from the department of civil engineering was the principal investigator on the project which received a $2 million grant from the national science foundation for a study of human-infrastructure resilience to urban flooding in addition to vedlitz the research team included co-pis philip berke and sierra woodruff from the college of architectures department of landscape architecture and urban planning and bjorn birgission also from the department of civil engineering this award is recognition of how important multidisciplinary research is to advancing our knowledge in so many areas vedlitz said bush school scholars bring expertise in policy research to a project that enables engineers and scholars from other disciplines to fully understand and appreciate the policy implications of the work they are doing he added

dr bryce hannibal istpp assistant research scientist and dr arnold vedlitz director emeritus and distinguished istpp research scholar published their study on organization food waste in environmental science and policy using istpps nationally representative survey on the water-energy-food nexus the authors analyze how peoples understanding of nexus connections influences their concern about organizational food waste and how this concern in turn affects their support for policies to reduce such waste the water-energy-food nexus refers to how these limited resources interconnect using one of resource inherently affects the other resources for example food production requires both water and energy so when food is thrown out the inputs of water and energy are also wasted thereby increasing inefficiencies in the nexus these lost resources could have been put to other uses the researchers measured nexus awareness through two indices based on questions that indicate whether people recognize the ways in which water and energy connect to food production hannibal and vedlitz then used the awareness indices to model their influence on peoples expressed levels of concern for food wasted by grocery stores restaurants and cafeterias they also analyzed the effect of nexus awareness on peoples expressed support for waste reduction policies their results show that the more aware someone is of the food-water and the food-energy nexus the greater that persons concern is for organizational food waste and the more they support policies to address that food waste hannibal bryce and arnold vedlitz 2018 throwing it out: introducing a nexus perspective in examining citizen perceptions of organizational food waste in the us environmental science & policy 88: 63-71 doi: 101016/jenvsci201806012

texas a&m university bush school of government and public service students tiffany easter and keri weinman captured a moment of political civility this week in a now-viral facebook post when us senator ted cruz had a chance meeting with defeated senate opponent us representative beto orourke at george bush intercontinental airport the students were on the same flight to washington dc as orourke and cruz and saw the two meeting for the first time since the election it was such a unique opportunity and one that people all around us took note of easter said senator cruz came up to the gate and took a seat and then we noticed congressman orourke sitting nearby one of the passengers went over to introduce himself to congressman orourke and then before we knew it orourke was making his way to senator cruz he shook his hand and congratulated him on his re-election they wished each other luck and talked about the way to help and move forward orourke and cruz then shook hands with easter and weinman and asked who they were and what they were doing we of course told them that we were students at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m and that like our friends and classmates we had followed the election closely easter said keri and i thanked them for engaging with us and encouraging and inspiring so many people to be involved in the election process this year the texas senate race was one of the most contested and most watched in the nation easter said in a facebook post today we literally watched them come together this is america this is good this is wholesome this is why i love and do what i do the humility yall im in awe it was definitely an inspiring encounter that reminded us that at the end of the day were all americans and we have to find ways to come together said easter https://wwwcnncom/2018/11/15/politics/beto-orourke-ted-cruz-airport-encounter/indexhtml

bush school student yashwant prakash vyas was awarded the eppright outstanding international student award the award is presented annually to one international student who excels in academics leadership service and participation in extracurricular activities vyas is a master of public service and administration student at the bush school and is heavily involved in extracurricular activities at the university level prior to his studies at the bush school he earned his bachelors degree in electrical engineering from texas a&m university receiving this award means additional responsibility with every honor comes the added responsibility of continuing to live up to that honor through actions i now represent the group of outstanding international students who have come before me and who will come after me bestowing this honor is an appreciation of the work i have done but i now have a conscious responsibility toward fellow recipients and the institution that has bestowed the honorthe conscious responsibility of continuing to re-earn this honor through my work vyas said vyas was born and raised in a small indian town and he transferred to texas a&m to finish his undergraduate education after applying to a few universities he settled on texas a&m as his final choice because of the highly ranked electrical engineering program and because texas a&m had more to offer its students than just professional training vyas initially chose the engineering path so that he could one day help connect underdeveloped communities to technology however as a volunteer and leader he realized his true passion lay in serving his fellow global citizens educational and life needs so he chose to continue his education at the bush school in addition to fueling my passion my education at the bush school and other professional experiences at texas a&m have reinforced my leadership and service philosophies vyas said in the last two years of my graduate studies i have had an opportunity to learn from and work with some incredible individuals mentors supervisors colleagues and students have greatly contributed to my learning and growth as a human being i am grateful for their support and in accepting recognitions like this i cannot take credit alone during his time at texas a&m vyas has chartered the alpha eta chapter of phi beta delta honor society for international scholars and serves as the president he serves as the director of the academy for future faculty where he oversees the programming and administration of the center for the integration of research teaching and learning (cirtl) associate certificate for all graduate and postdoctoral students at texas a&m vyas also serves as the primary advisor to the texas a&m university chapter of golden key international honour society in 2016 he started a service-learning program brazos valley worldfest ambassadors for the office of the provost – public partnership and outreach and severed as the founding president additionally he has served in over fifteen student organizations at texas a&m including the international student organization 12th can fish camp camp kesem aggie muster aggie replants and aggie orientation leaders program to name a few vyas is also involved in the local community every year he organizes an award-winning cultural display booth at brazos valley worldfest to promote global citizenship and celebrate diversity he also serves as the educator for the culture in classroom and senior citizens passport programs offered by the texas a&ms office of the provost – public partnership and outreach additionally he has served as the conference presenter and facilitator for the annual student conference on latinx affairs (scola) vyas also holds the other three highest student honors of texas a&m university: buck weirus spirit award (highest honor bestowed on a student leader) margaret rudder community service award (highest honor bestowed on a student for community service) and diversity service award (highest honor bestowed on a student for promoting diversity and contributing to improving overall university climate) his other national and international leadership service and academic recognitions include us funds for unicefs member of the year award phi beta delta david merchant international student award for achievement golden key international honour society advisor of the year award hesselbein global academy for leadership and civic engagement medal 2017 national conference on race and ethnicity in american higher education student scholar a scholarship is associated with this award and vyas believes it is helping him in his career as far as what it will allow me to do it is greatly contributing to my multidimensional rigorous and very expensive training as a future professional and public servant vyas said this summer vyas interned at the greater texas foundation (gtf) – a private grant-making foundation that supports efforts to ensure all texas students are prepared for have access to persist in and complete postsecondary education after graduation he wants to pursue a phd in education and work for the government a nonprofit or private agency to help improve education and develop communities globally

on november 7 the day after the midterm elections us congressman bill flores participated in the conversations in public policy series hosted by the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy the evenings discussion focused on trade and energy policy challenges facing congress and was attended by more than two hundred guests from the bush school texas a&m university and the local community congressman flores first spoke about the importance of free and fair global trade and its contributions to the promise prosperity and security of america he defined free trade as no subsidies no barriers no tariffs for anybody anywhere at any time he opined that while president trump has a different negotiating style than he it is getting results – reopening various us agriculture markets getting trade negotiations started with japan and renegotiating the north american free trade agreement congressman flores then shifted to energy and spoke of the success the united states has achieved in becoming more energy independent he also championed next-generation nuclear energy discussing its sustainability lack of carbon emissions and affordability following his prepared remarks dr lori taylor director of the mosbacher institute engaged congressman flores on-stage in further conversation about trade and energy policy and the election results congressman flores stated that in the current 115th congress 989% of the 268 bills passed so far have been bipartisan which is a trend he hopes to see continue in the 116th congress congressman flores will begin his fifth term representing the 17th district of texas when the 116th congress starts in january of 2019 dr lori taylor and us congressman bill flores dr raymond robertson dr lori taylor us congressman bill flores dean mark welsh

lt gen (ret) mike gould recollected memories from his time as president george h w bushs air force aid from 1990 to 1992 telling stories about the down-to-earth nature of the bushes gould spoke to students faculty and staff at the bush school of government and public service gould fondly spoke of the time he first met president bush when bush personally congratulated him on changing jobs and offered a prayer for goulds sick mother gould showed photos of when bush found out the soviet union collapsed and when the bushes dogs were born gould highlighted barbara bushs character by describing her insistence that thanksgiving dinner be made for all the service members protecting the first family gould noted that the bushes were just like regular people and down to earth in nature students staff and faculty were mesmerized by the stories and pictures of the president the school is named after

texas a&m bush school student michael migaud received the exxonmobil best poster presentation award at the texas a&m conference on energy his presentation was entitled state policies and individual action: how state policy influences individual uses and opinions of renewable energy a first-year bush school student in the master of public service and administration program migaud said it was very rewarding to win the exxonmobil best poster presentation award i put in a lot of work on this project and to see all of my hard work come to fruition was really special and motivating i am truly grateful for the opportunities the institute for science technology and public policy has given me to explore my interests in energy policy mr migaud first worked with the bush school institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) in the summer of 2017 when he requested a position for the summer research internship program sponsored the a&m energy institute he was one of eight students selected out of sixty-three applicants for such an internship during that summer and later as a student worker in istpp migaud completed the research that was presented in his award-winning poster migauds research examines the relationship between states enacting pro-renewable energy policies and citizen attitudes/opinion towards renewable energy the data utilized for this analysis came from three main sources: (1) a collection of renewable energy incentive policies enacted by state legislatures from 2006 to 2016 (2) responses from a nationally representative survey on energy issues administered in 2015 and (3) information on states energy profiles (ie primary energy source primary generating capacity etc) that can be found on government websites results showed strong public support for increased federal funding for renewable energy technology use and researchparticularly in states that have net metering policies this study highlights the states potential role in promoting alternative energy use with the possible inference that such policies may influence and be influenced by citizen attitudes and opinions about energy sources and consumption mr migaud also presented this research with fellow researcher dr bryce hannibal at the 2018 energy law and policy workshop held on the texas a&m campus dr hannibal is a researcher at istpp their talk was titled state energy policies and public support for renewable energy

dr matthew fuhrmann a center for grand strategy faculty affiliate was one of 21 texas a&m scholars named as a 2018 presidential impact fellow by tamu president michael k young and provost and executive vice president carol fierke dr fuhrmann is a professor in the department of political science at texas a&m university read more about the impact fellows on texas a&m today

president trumps response to the disappearance-turned-murder of jamal khashoggi in the saudi embassy in turkey has raised deep concerns among the diplomatic community saudi arabia maintains that the journalist for the washington post was killed by rogue agents but questions still swirl about khashoggis murder and this will serve as the basis for the discussion the death of jamal khashoggi: whats next for saudi arabia and us-saudi relations sponsored by the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university on monday october 29 2018 at 5:30 pm a discussion by faculty experts will be held in 2404 memorial student center on the a&m campus and is open to the public the death of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi at the hands of agents of saudi arabia in the saudi consulate in istanbul turkey has dominated headlines all over the world for two weeks mr khashoggi had chosen to leave saudi arabia and take up residence in washington dc where he wrote critically about the saudi leadership including crown prince mohammad bin salman for the washington post khashoggis death and the shifting saudi stories about it has roiled saudi relations with the united states turkey and other countries this panel will discuss the background of mr khashoggis death the implications for politics in saudi arabia and the future of us-saudi relations bush school faculty participating in the discussion are dr f gregory gause iii head of the department of international affairs and an expert on the arabian peninsula and persian gulf and dr erin snider assistant professor and expert on the regional political economy of the middle east

istpp researchers drs xinsheng liu kent portney jeryl mumpower and arnold vedlitz have published their research terrorism risk assessment recollection bias and public support for counterterrorism policy and spending in risk analysis the authors designed and employed a national representative survey to examine the existence persistence socio-economic-political base and policy underpinnings of recollection bias among the general public in the context of a number of domestic and international terrorist attacks in this article recollection bias is defined as the phenomenon whereby after a traumatic event people claim their risk assessment of a similar future event is no higher than their recollection of their pre-event risk assessment based on the survey data the authors find strong evidence of the occurrence of recollection bias and its persistence across various forms of terrorism risk with regard to the social-economic-political base the authors find that women older people political conservatives and republicans are less susceptible to recollection bias than their counterparts are through data analyses they further demonstrate that recollection bias significantly dampens public support for a wide range of preventive policy measures and government antiterrorism spending liu xinsheng kent e portney jeryl l mumpower and arnold vedlitz 2018 terrorism risk assessment recollection bias and public support for counterterrorism policy and spending risk analysis doi: 101111/risa13203

dr madeleine albright the 64th secretary of state and the first woman to hold that position will give a talk entitled bipartisanship and foreign policy at 6 pm in the annenberg presidential conference center on november 6 2018 in addition dr albright will sign copies of her latest book fascism: a warning at 4 pm in the lobby of the conference center her book warns that fascism in the 20th century can threaten peace and democracy around the world the event is presented by texas a&m universitys bush school of government and public service the scowcroft institute of international affairs and the bush foundation bush school head of the department of international affairs and holder of the john h lindsey 44 chair dr f gregory gause iii will moderate questions from the audience after secretary albrights remarks please rsvp for the lecture at bushevents@bush41org along with being the 64th secretary of state albright has served on the national security council and as the united states ambassador to the united nations she has received the presidential medal of freedom

united states congressman bill flores will be discussing the trade and energy policy challenges facing congress on november 7 2018 flores has served as the representative for texas district 17 for seven years and sits on the house energy and commerce committee the texas a&m bush school of government and public services mosbacher institute will host flores as a part of its conversations in public policy series a reception will begin at 5:00 pm with the congressman speaking at 5:30 pm the event will be held at the annenberg presidential conference center flores is a graduate of texas a&m university with a bba in accounting and has a background in the agricultural sector he has received a distinguished alumni award from the university and currently resides in bryan texas flores is a member of powerful committees in the congress in addition to serving on the house energy and commerce committee he is the chairman of the republican study committee and serves on the house committee on veterans affairs flores has also received the distinguished public servant award from the marfan foundation and the spirit of enterprise award from the united states chamber of commerce

college of liberal arts dean pamela r matthews honored the following political science faculty members at the annual deans recognition reception: david fortunato associate professor in the department of political science was appointed ray a rothrock 77 fellow matthew fuhrmann professor in the department of political science was appointed presidential impact fellow guy whitten professor in the department of political science was appointed cullen-mcfadden professor of political science read the full list of recognition on sept 1 2022 the department of political science became part of the bush school of government & public service

dr leonard bright holds a phd in public administration and policy from the hatfield school of government at portland state university he joined the bush school after serving as an associate professor in the school of urban and public affairs at the university of louisville he earned his bachelors degree at the university of south florida and his masters at the university of idaho dr brights research focuses on leadership and organizational management and behavior he is considered one of the top experts in his field on public service motivation research his research contributions have been recognized by his peers through publications in the leading academic journals in his specialty of public sector human resource management his publications have had a measurable impact on his field of study as illustrated by frequent citations of his research as a professor his first duty is to provide knowledge and instruction to his students; but he also sees collaboration as a trend in his field that he tries to implement in the classroom bright says his students learn to put the team first see the management implications of policies leverage the talents of all in the group and not be afraid of the complexity that diversity can bring dr bright says he was impressed by the bush schools reputation and its focus on public administration and public service here at the bush school the faculty is educating students to work in the field i think thats important he says dr bright teaches a range of courses including program evaluation organizational theory advanced public management and tools of leadership bright says his teaching style is interactive with a mix of lecture and discussion something he learned from his graduate school professors my job is about teaching bright says and about making sure students succeed i dont want my research to diminish students classroom experience or learning processes this isnt about whats easiest for the teacher but whats best for the student as for the future bright hopes to lead a capstone project ideally on microfinance having taught in institutions that focused on research and on teaching he considers himself a specialist in his research and a generalist when it comes to teaching as he has taught a wide variety of graduate courses dr bright and his wife both love the outdoors especially deep sea fishing hiking traveling and going to the beach bright spends his spare time working on his boat and working on the mini-ranch he has purchased here in texas he hopes to build a home and plant organic fruits and vegetables though he is very busy with his new job he likes to do most of the work himself when possible as he considers himself a self-proclaimed mr fix-it i really enjoy being at the bush school and i hope to be here many years i think ive found my home says bright

unwomen and council on foreign relations members will gather at texas a&ms bush school of government and public service to discuss how womens security is tied to world peace and why it is vital to united states foreign policy speakers will discuss texas response to sex trafficking domestic violence and sexual assault the bush school is hosting these speakers for the 4th annual texas women peace and security symposium on monday november 5 2018 the all-day conference to be held at the annenberg presidential conference center begins at 9:00 am and ends at 6:00 pm the symposium is designed to bring together academics practitioners and policymakers who are interested in advancing the goals of un security council resolution 1325 which advocates for the increased participation of women in matters of national security including conflict resolution peace-building countering violent extremism transitional justice and post-conflict reconstruction womens perspectives and voices on issues of national security have been sorely lacking and this symposium contributes to the rectification of that deficiency headed by dr valerie m hudson who founded the program on women peace and security at the bush school the conference addresses womens security issues and how they are linked to the insecurity of nations the event will have panel discussions on how women peace and security initiatives are reflected in security policy how the status of women advances united states foreign policy the texas perspective on women peace and security and new research on the subject the bush schools own dean mark welsh iii; lt col bradley orchard from un women; sarah chayes author of thieves of state: why corruption threatens global security; rachel vogelstein director of the women and foreign policy program at the council on foreign relations; and janet kasper east texas regional administrator child sex trafficking team texas governors office will all give remarks at the conference

this years bush school of government and public service outstanding alumni award was presented to caitlyn fife master of public service and administration class of 2006 fife currently serves as the budget director at the national science foundation since graduating from the bush school she has had a remarkable career in public service previously serving in the office of the secretary of the department of health and human services and the office of management and budget a mere nine years after leaving the bush school fife was promoted to the senior executive service in 2015 a rare feat for individuals early in their career bush school impact fife discussed the impact that the bush school has had on her career during her remarks at the award presentation ceremony she stated my faith and my family inspired my desire to serve when i came to the bush school they taught me what to do with my passion they taught me how to make it my lifes work she added being able to leave here with the tools to have a practical impact and to do that work on a daily basis is incredible award nomination and ceremony dr william bill west the sara lindsey chair in the department of public service and administration nominated fife for the outstanding alumni award in his recommendation he emphasized fifes current substantial supervising and policy-making responsibilities at the award ceremony bush school dean mark welsh said caitlyn is living testament to the idea that if youre talented willing to work hard and demonstrate true servant leadership there will always be great and rewarding opportunities for you in public service fifes impressive dedication to public service is as an inspiration to all former and current bush school students she embodies the spirit of service that president bush wants to instill in the students of his school

students at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university interned or studied languages in twenty-three countries outside the united states students also interned at federal agencies state governments and nonprofits tackling border security and arms cooperation on the national level and child sex trafficking in texas bush school students traveled to germany jordan france wales latvia china united arab emirates colombia russia japan austria kenya lebanon honduras canada belgium egypt guatemala uganda puerto rico ireland ecuador and kurdistan emily jensen a master of international affairs (mia) student worked for the department of state in the office of consular affairs and had the opportunity to meet secretary of state mike pompeo jensen focused on immigration applications the department of state and us pacific command hosted the largest number of students from the department of international affairs over the summer and popular languages among students were russian spanish arabic german and french devin malone mia spent his summer studying spanish in colombia and recently passed his required oral proficiency exam for the bush school several students in the master of public service and administration (mpsa) program interned at the welsh general assembly-swansea university various departments and state agencies within the texas a&m university system brazos county and the office of the texas governor ashley alley mpsa interned in texas governor greg abbotts office of child sex trafficking alley said the job was enriching because she saw firsthand how the governor is attempting to take the lead on combatting human trafficking another mpsa student annette mackey also interned for the texas governors summer 2018 internship program she worked in constituent communication in the office of the texas governor mpsa students georgia gandy osburn and joseph cannon tate worked at the national assembly for wales osburn said a policy formation class at the bush school prepared her for the internship duties elizabeth oconnor mpsa worked for the wales centre for public policy as a part of her summer exchange with swansea university oconnor worked mostly on public policy researching issues such as foster care and youth homelessness bush school students also spent time in the nations capital tyler neves mia worked at the department of defense in the directorate of international cooperation and focused on arms cooperationgabriela hernandez mia worked as a graduate fellow for rep filemon vela and helped with the family separation crisis hernandez also crafted a pamphlet titled texas disaster information for constituents

the bush school and the albritton center for grand strategy hosted john j mearshemier r wendell harrison distinguished service professor of political science and the co-director of the program on international security policy at the university of chicago on sept 27 2018 mearsheimer spoke about his book the great delusion: liberal dreams and international realities find more information and video of the event below event details the great delusion: liberal dreams and international realities professor john mearsheimer r wendell harrison distinguished service professor of political scienceuniversity of chicago thursday september 27 20186:00 pmreception to followannenberg presidential conference center texas a&m university speaker biography john j mearsheimer is the r wendell harrison distinguished service professor of political science and the co-director of the program on international security policy at the university of chicago where he has taught since 1982 he graduated from west point in 1970 and then served five years as an officer in the us air force he then started graduate school in political science at cornell university in 1975 he received his phd in 1980 he spent the 1979-1980 academic year as a research fellow at the brookings institution and was a post-doctoral fellow at harvard universitys center for international affairs from 1980 to 1982 during the 1998-1999 academic year he was the whitney h shepardson fellow at the council on foreign relations in new york professor mearsheimer has written extensively about security issues and international politics more generally he has published five books: conventional deterrence (1983) which won the edgar s furniss jr book award; liddell hart and the weight of history (1988); the tragedy of great power politics (2001) which won the joseph lepgold book prize; the israel lobby and us foreign policy (with stephen m walt 2007) which made the new york times best seller list and has been translated into nineteen different languages; and why leaders lie: the truth about lying in international politics (2011) he has also written many articles that have appeared in academic journals like international security and popular magazines like the london review of books furthermore he has written a number of op-ed pieces for the new york times and the los angeles times dealing with topics like bosnia nuclear proliferation american policy towards india the failure of arab-israeli peace efforts and the folly of invading iraq finally professor mearsheimer has won a number of teaching awards he received the clark award for distinguished teaching when he was a graduate student at cornell in 1977 and he won the quantrell award for distinguished teaching at the university of chicago in 1985 in addition he was selected as a phi beta kappa visiting scholar for the 1993-1994 academic year in that capacity he gave a series of talks at eight colleges and universities in 2003 he was elected to the american academy of arts and sciences

dr arnold vedlitz dr bryce hannibal and ms carol goldsmith of the institute for science technology and public policy (istpp) are partnering with other texas a&m researchers to identify and examine how the dynamics of planning policies flood control infrastructures and the social networks in which these efforts operate affect the capacity of urban communities to quickly recover from major flooding the national science foundations (nsf) critical resilient interdependent infrastructure systems and processes (crisp) program has awarded a $2 million grant to support this research which will focus on harris county texas and the flooding caused by hurricane harvey dr vedlitz co-principal investigator on the project and professor and holder of the bob bullock chair in government and public policy at the bush school of government and public service will lead the istpp research team in an in-depth examination of planning and decision-making processes and the social network interactions that occur across the local and regional stakeholder groups involved in these efforts as dr vedlitz points out these interactions affect both the planning for and response to natural disasters the effectiveness of these interactions create the planning physical infrastructure and resource networks for responding to disasters which in turn affect the quality of actual responses once a disaster occurs the teams goal is to model how inter-organizational dynamics and decision-making processes in human systems affect the management of interdependent flood protection emergency response and transportation infrastructure systems using data collected from a series of surveys of key stakeholders dr hannibal istpp assistant research scientist will develop comprehensive maps of the social network structure of the stakeholder groups the team will analyze the structure of these networks identifying core clusters of groups that have frequent communications and which of these clusters are connected to other clusters and by analyzing the time series of network maps dr hannibal explains well be able to identify events and practices that encourage the integration of these networks and their hazard mitigation plans along with circumstances that tend to lead to conflicting plans or gaps in the plans ms goldsmith senior research associate and assistant director of the institute will lead the administration of grant activities for the institute she will coordinate development and implementation of the surveys and provide general research support to the lead investigators insights gained from the project will be shared with a broad spectrum of planners policy makers community organizations and other relevant groups to help them make evidence-based decisions to improve the resilience of their communities dr ali mostafavi of tees and the zachry department of civil engineering is the lead principal investigator of the project other co-principal investigators on the team include dr phillip berke professor in the department of landscape architecture and urban planning and director of the institute for sustainable communities; dr sierra woodruff assistant professor in the department of landscape architecture and urban planning; and dr bjorn birgisson professor in the department of civil engineering

istpp director kent portney and reseach fellow jeryl mumpower coauthored a paper titled the dynamics of risk perception for soft target terrorism that was presented at the 14th probabilistic safety assessment and management conference held in september in los angeles ca istpp director kent portney reseach fellow jeryl mumpower and their coauthors examine aspects of the publics attitudes risk perceptions and behavioral responses to soft target terrorism events using original data from a six-wave longitudinal study conducted over a six-month period multiple high-profile terror events occurred during the six months including the nightclub shooting in orlando florida and the truck attack in nice france the survey asked respondents about their recollection of each violent incident and whether they considered these incidents to be acts of terror along with questions about perceptions of risk; psychometric variables; and behavioral responses associated with soft target terror events defined as attacks on unsecured public spaces using low-technology devices such as guns motor vehicles or homemade bombs over time given highly publicized terror attacks peoples perceptions of risk influence their estimates of future consequences and estimates of the likelihood of additional attacks people who expressed higher levels of fear concerning potential terror attacks also reported changing their behaviors to reduce their chances of being the victim of a soft target attack these behavior changes included buying a gun changing travel destinations and avoiding crowded places baucum matt richard john marcus mayorga paul slovic william burns kent portney and jeryl mumpower 2018 the dynamics of risk perception for soft target terrorism paper presented at the 14th probabilistic safety assessment and management conference los angeles ca september 16–21

on september 26 2018 jim mattress mack mcingvale the founder and owner of gallery furniture in houston was awarded the mclane leadership in business award by the mosbacher institute for trade economics & public policy the award recognizes outstanding contributions in the area of business and public or community service mr mcingvales remarks given to a crowd of about 475 at the annenberg presidential conference center were intriguing humorous and inspirational he told stories about the experiences he and his gallery furniture stores had rescuing people during hurricane harvey remarking that when people ask him how he could let complete strangers sleep in his furniture store he answers how could i not while his disaster work may be what comes to mind first his philanthropic resume is even more extensive his face beamed when he spoke of his next endeavor turning portions of two of his stores into community centers to provide job training to local residents mr mcingvale asserted that what he learned about service came from his role models – his family and george and barbara bush prior to the event mr mcingvale met with a group of bush school students for a q&a session upon entering the room mattress mack shook all the students hands and learned their names just another example of the personable qualities of the man who owns and operates gallery furniture in houston to mr mcingvale service to others isnt a choice but a lifestyle – one he encouraged all in attendance on wednesday to choose dean mark welsh; jim mcingvale; dr lori taylor jim mcingvale with students at the bush school

dr xinsheng liu istpp research scientist with co-author dr haifeng huang (university of california merced) have published their article historical knowledge and national identity: evidence from china in research and politics this research examines the connections between historical knowledge and national identify with original data from a nationally representative survey in china the authors find that significantly more chinese citizens overestimate than underestimate chinas objective historical achievements and those who overestimate the achievements of ancient chinese civilization tend to have stronger national identity they also find that correcting misinformation can potentially affect individuals national identity huang haifeng and xinsheng liu 2018 historical knowledge and national identity: evidence from china research and politics 5(3): 1-8 doi: 101177/2053168018794352

dr bryce hannibal an assistant research scientist at the texas a&m bush school of government and public service is investigating how social network communication and collaboration affect flood resilience the study is the first to apply network analysis to resilience efforts and is receiving a two-year roughly $200 000 grant from the national science foundation the research focuses on collaboration between public and private groups who work on resilience planning i was pretty surprised because these grant initiatives are so competitive but i am very excited to get the study underway hannibal said on finding out he and his co-researchers won the national science foundation grant flooding costs around the world are reaching $60 billion annually and hannibal is working alongside sierra woodruff texas a&m assistant professor of urban planning and sara meerow assistant professor of geographical sciences and urban planning at arizona state university to test the success of resilience planning through surveys interviews and evaluating hazard plans in four communities that use resilience planning dr hannibal will characterize inter-organizational dynamics around flood resilience planning by analyzing urban governance networks the research team will focus on baltimore boston ft lauderdale and seattle the study will use social network analysis to map and characterize the structure of communication and collaboration networks hannibal will survey city managers resilience officials and others involved in planning the questions will focus on how frequently participants talk about flood mitigation with other actors how often they work together on mitigation or resilience projects and the importance of specific types of collaboration in building resilience the study seeks to knock down policy silos and encourage collaborative problem solving several cities have welcomed resilience planning as a way to decrease flooding costs it is a new concept that seeks to diminish natural hazard vulnerability by bringing together natural hazard and land use planning processes that typically happen separately while there is consensus that coordination across departments and fields is crucial to organizing resilience planning there is not enough evidence to show collaboration across organizations on resilience improves plans hannibal woodruff and meerow will present their findings when they reach conclusions on their research

dr lori taylor has been at the bush school of government and public service since june 2003 and has led the schools mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy since january 2014 she was recently named head of the department of public service and administration she holds a phd and a masters degree in economics from the university of rochester in addition to bachelors degrees in economics and business administration from the university of kansas during her fifteen years at the bush school dr taylor has taught primarily public finance microeconomics for public policy and education policy she says one of her favorite parts of teaching is seeing the light come on in the back of someones eyes when they start to understand whatever concept is being discussed a noted researcher education policy is dr taylors special area of interest she is currently working on a number of projects related to education and finance issues and has conducted research on behalf of policymakers in a number of states including kansas; wyoming; north carolina; florida; and of course texas my research focuses on a range of education finance issues in particular looking at the design of school funding for texas and other states she said all these problems center around the issue of ways to allocate scarce resources effectively so states can ensure that institutional structures support and facilitate the decisions made by school districts to accomplish their goals i firmly believe that nearly all schools are trying really hard to help students achieve but i also recognize they dont always know what the best strategy would be and that there are better practices elsewhere said dr taylorone project that examined regional cost adjustment on behalf of the national center for education statistics has earned dr taylor national visibility this research sought to ensure that funding formulas equalized the resources in the classroom not just the dollars allocated to each classroom a dollar doesnt stretch as far in some locations said dr taylor what looked like equal money will not lead to the same level of quality staffing in one place as it might somewhere else a member of the board of directors for the association for education finance and policy dr taylor is also the principal investigator for the texas smart schools initiative and is a member of the editorial board for aera opendr taylor is one of two researchers at the school who focus on education policy while she will continue her research efforts dr taylor will face a new set of challenges in her position as department head she is particularly interested in managing growth at the bush school by deepening the applicant pool so the school can maintain its current standard for high-quality graduates this new role will take dr taylor out of the classroom for a while but she hopes she will be back teaching soon i enjoy teaching said dr taylor and im told im pretty good at it she particularly enjoys engaging with students im a frustrated stand-up comic and i like having an audience who knows if they dont laugh at my jokes they dont pass she joked she added that she enjoys the presentation aspects of the job and interacting with students during class and office hours

dr william west professor and sara lindsey chair at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university has been awarded the 2018 american bar associations administrative law section annual scholarship award for his coauthored work dynamic rulemaking west shares the prestigious award with past recipients such as supreme court associate justice elena kagan the members of abas administrative law section were unanimous in their decision to recognize the study as the best article published in 2017 west coauthored the work with professor wendy e wagner the professor richard dale endowed chair in law at the university of texas school of law; thomas o mcgarity the joe r and teresa lozano long endowed chair in administrative law at the university of texas; and lisa peters at the case western reserve university school of law west said he was surprised and very pleased upon hearing the news the article is the first in a series according to west and it studies rulemaking by the environmental protection agency (epa) occupational safety and health administration (osha) and the federal communications commission (fcc) the study develops the implications of the fact that final regulations are seldom the last wordthat most rules are revisions of existing rules what explains these revisions and what procedures do agencies use in making them what does this mean for the character and effects of participation in agency policy making what are the implications for transparency in so far as it is reactive is the dynamic process of rulemaking an effective way of identifying and addressing problems with existing regulations these are among the questions we address west said west said the authors are working on a second article that measures participation and its effects at different stages in the rulemaking process using data from the epa osha and fcc one finding in the next article is most participation in the rulemaking process occurs outside notice and comment and another is agencies seek public opinion in distinct ways that represent the political and technical world they work in the authors will receive their award formally during the administrative law sections annual fall meeting on november 2 2018 in washington dc

dr john mearsheimer will discuss his new book the great delusion: liberal dreams and international realities on thursday september 27 2018 from 6 – 7 pm the event hosted by the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university will take place in the annenberg presidential conference center located on the texas a&m university campus a book signing and reception will immediately follow the event in his talk dr mearsheimer will lay out the key arguments from his new book which explains why a policy of liberal hegemony is doomed to fail he argues that the united states should adopt a more restrained foreign policy based on a sound understanding of how nationalism and realism constrain great powers abroad dr mearsheimer is the r wendell harrison distinguished service professor of political science at the university of chicago he has published many books including conventional deterrence the tragedy of great power politics and why leaders lie: the truth about lying in international politics additionally he has authored many articles that have appeared in academic journals and the popular press dr mearsheimer earned his phd in government from cornell university

texas a&m university graduate students are invited to apply to be involved in the next great influenza pandemic simulation during the texas a&m university bush school of government & public service scowcroft institute of international affairs 2018 4th annual pandemic policy summit oct 16 the half-day simulation event presented by the scowcroft institute the institute for infectious animal disease and the global one health program in collaboration with the smithsonian institution for graduate students will take place sunday oct 14th from 1-5 pm at the college of veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences interested applicants have until sept 14 to apply all graduate students are invited to apply to participate in the simulation the students applications and essays will determine the selection process this experiential learning opportunity is designed to bring graduate students from various disciplines together in order to respond to a simulated disease outbreak the purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate that multidisciplinary efforts are necessary to respond to such a global challenge the simulation will not only provide graduate students with the unique opportunity to collaborate with peers outside of their colleges but also will enable them to work with experienced group facilitators to formulate a response plan to a disaster situation the event will provide a valuable hands-on experience for students interested in global health and pandemic issues and allow them to explore real-world applications of their field of study interface with experts and learn how a multifaceted approach is required to solve complex issues

jim mattress mack mcingvale will receive the mclane leadership in business award on wednesday september 26 2018 the award will be presented by the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university presented annually the award recognizes a prominent individual in the field of business for outstanding contributions in the area of business public service or community service at the national level mr mcingvale is noted for his keen business entrepreneurship and his unwavering commitment to serving others through his philanthropy the event will be held in the annenberg presidential conference center with a reception at 5 pm followed by mr mcingvales lecture at 5:30 pm mr mcingvale is a texas-grown phenomenon and his catch-phrase save you money today! on his television ads reflects his enthusiasm about his business and his commitment to his customers mack and his wife linda started gallery furniture in 1981with five thousand dollars and a dream mack began television advertising early and with his motto early to bed early to rise work like hell and advertise he quickly became a household name gallery furniture has had major expansions over the years including a rebuild of the flagship store as well as additions in the galleria location and in the third and largest store located in fort bend county on grand parkway which features a 165 000 square foot showroom the success of gallery furniture is mostly attributed to macks do-whatever-it-takes approach to pleasing the customer macks strong work ethic is matched by his philanthropic efforts for which he has received numerous awards including the points of life award personally presented by former president george h w bush the list of organizations and individuals helped by mr mcingvale is almost unmatched and he is nearly always one of the first to help during disasters most recently mack provided shelter for hundreds of people displaced by hurricane harvey and hosted countless relief efforts following the disaster supplying houstonians with cleaning materials clothing water and food his annual christmas giveaways have furnished hundreds of homes over the past thirty years he helped raise more than $12 million for the bush/clinton fund to aid those affected by the tsunami in southeast asia and hurricanes katrina and rita each thanksgiving and christmas mack has fed people in needsome 25 000 over the years he regularly supports houston nonprofits as well as medical and educational institutions the mosbacher institute was founded in october 2009 to produce policy-oriented research in trade energy and good governance the mclane leadership in business award was established by drayton mclane jr a noted entrepreneur and chairman of the mclane group a diversified collection of businesses that demonstrate a tradition of excellence and innovation

dr david rosowsky istpp fellow and professor of civil engineering at the university of vermont discusses possible definitions of resiliency in the context of civil engineering projects and their response to natural hazards in his paper defining resilience dr rosowsky highlights that across a variety of ways of defining resilience there exists a common understanding that infrastructure considered to be ‘resilient is intended to survive extreme damage or use without being compromised while his paper is predominately based on civil engineering scenarios and concepts he also touches on the importance of social resilience in the forms of individual and community resiliency dr rosowsky concludes by pointing out there is no single definition of resilience and that achieving resiliency requires collaboration between the technical realm of engineering and the social sciences

one the center for grand strategys directors jasen castillo co-authored two rand studies that have been published in recent months national will to fight: why some states keep fighting and others dont and will to fight: analyzing modeling and simulating the will to fight of military units

new research published in the takeaway a policy brief produced by the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy at the texas a&m university bush school of government and public service found that while uninsured rates in texas declined from 2012 to 2016 the state still leads the nation in health uninsured rates texas lyceum fellow ashley thomas a 2018 bush school master of public service and administration graduate recently completed research on health insurance rates in texas and worked under the guidance of bush school associate professor laura dague to produce key findings on the trends in texas health insurance rates thomas also observed that texas medicaid income eligibility requirements are less generous than in other states and that federal policy changes will likely reverse the recent positive trends in texas uninsured rates since a texas lyceum poll suggested that 64 percent of texans believe it is important to reduce the number of individuals without health insurance thomas suggested that policymakers reexamine medicaid eligibility limits and explore the efficiencies of automatic enrollment thomas presented her research findings at the annual texas lyceum public conference in san antonio texas on friday aug 17 the texas lyceum fellowship provides an opportunity to develop research and analysis skills for bush school students pursuing careers in public policy analysis the fellowship was made possible through a partnership between the texas lyceum and the mosbacher institute for trade economics and public policy the texas lyceum is an independent nonpartisan institution dedicated to cultivating the states young leaders and promoting research-driven solutions to policy issues in texas about the texas lyceum: the texas lyceum a nonprofit nonpartisan group is the premier statewide leadership organization focused on identifying the next generation of top texas leaders the lyceum consists of ninety-six men and women from throughout the state who begin their six-year term while under the age of forty-six and have demonstrated leadership in their community and profession together with a deep commitment to texas for more information please visit http://wwwtexaslyceumorg texas lyceum is on facebook at https://wwwfacebookcom/texaslyceum and on twitter @texaslyceum http://twittercom/texaslyceum about the mosbacher institute: the mosbacher institute was founded in 2009 to honor robert a mosbacher secretary of commerce from 1989-1992 and key architect of the north american free trade agreement through its three core programsintegration of global markets energy in a global economy and governance and public servicesthe institute conducts innovative policy research and top-quality education and training to help the decision makers of today and tomorrow meet the challenges posed by a new world of global markets and increasingly diffuse political and economic power

five years ago bryce watson 18 was living in china teaching english to factory workers children two weeks ago he moved to tijuana mexico to work on his startup in preparation for the products full launch in august the idea for which he had while living in china vize watsons company is designed to give factory workers an anonymous digital forum to discuss wages working conditions and other issues in factories the idea is that if workers report factory conditions this will increase accountability among factory owners tijuana currently faces a labor shortage so owners are incentivized to provide fair wages and safe work environments said watson watson who was born in odessa texas but grew up in northern california recently graduated from the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university with his masters in international affairs he was inspired to develop his company after interacting with factory workers and their families in china watson talked frequently with workers about conditions in factories learning about long hours low wages and little regard for laws and regulations he watched workers share stories about which factories were good ones and which ones were bad to get a sense of where they should seek employment because of the fluidity with which workers moved in and out of these industrial zones much of this valuable data was lost in three to four months time while the workers and their stories are transient watson noticed one permanent commonality among factory workersthey all owned smart phones so why cant we just put this information online he thought and with that an idea was born but it would be a few years until the notion was fully formed armed with ambition and an idea watson returned from china he continued to work in international development for the next few years honing his studies at the bush school to help prepare him for a life working in the field back stateside watson had the time to devote to making his idea a reality he began assembling a team in december 2017 to help develop vize i was thinking about my time in china and knew i wanted to actually pursue this said watson thats when i built the team at a&m the team diverse and made up entirely of texas a&m students is just as dedicated as watson four of the five have experience in developing countries julian alvarez a lead product manager and co-founder is from colombia and has accompanied watson on previous journeys to tijuana as the newly formed team set out to turn this idea into a tangible product they knew they needed the perfect place to launch vize china would not work because of the countrys authoritarian tendencies and aversion to open data that would allow a company such as vize to operate within its borders when we looked around at where it would be possible to do this we knew china wouldnt work said watson but in tijuana everyone has a smartphone theres a labor shortage and theres a high literacy rate in addition to these factors mexican federal laws are pro-labor but the populace is highly mobile making any kind of organization among factory workers difficult even if the labor laws are strong many factory workers dont have an in-depth knowledge of their rights under those laws said watson like in china workers in tijuana move frequently between the maquiladorasfactories in mexico run by a foreign company watson saw a similar trend of workers informally sharing information among themselves but then as soon as a worker moved this information was lost many countries have maquiladoras in mexico and many more are moving there countries like the united states china korea and japan are increasingly moving their manufacturing jobs to mexico because of the rising cost of labor in china and growing lead times or the amount of time it takes for a product to be made and delivered back to its country of origin it can take months to make a product in china and get it back to the united states said watson but if its made in mexico it may only take a week the confluence of these factors made tijuana a logical place to launch vize watson and members of his team started making sporadic trips to tijuana to interview workers and factory owners while vize primarily seeks to provide a central location for workers information it also wants to work with employers to help them find the talent they need employers in mexico face monthly turnover rates of eight to ten percent if we can provide value to employees we can also provide employers data to say ‘these are good workers heres what other factories pay and these are the conditions in that factory said watson initial conversations with workers and employers in tijuana proved both parties interested in the service the vize team members hope to provide they launched a pilot version of the app in may to about thirty users; the full launch will be in august 2018 two concerns arose before the initial launch would people be interested in using their phones for this purpose and would workers be comfortable sharing information even anonymously about their workplace conditions the pilot launch went as well as they had hoped everyone was willing and excited to use it said watson people were really willing to tell us all the grainy details of their job with the pilot launch behind them the teams efforts have turned to making sure everything is ready for the full launch they recognize that part of what will make this company successful is having people on the ground in tijuana dedicated to ensuring everything goes smoothly they have launched an indiegogo campaign to hire a small tijuana-based marketing team their fundraising goal is $5 000 by september 6 2018 ultimately they hope having a team in tijuana will attract more long-term investments if you would like to learn more about vize you can visit the website at http://wwwincentivizinggoodcom

istpp researchers drs xinsheng liu jeryl mumpower kent portney and arnold vedlitz have published their research perceived risk of terrorism and policy preferences for government counterterrorism spending: evidence from a us national panel survey in risk hazard & crisis in public policy using data from a national two-wave panel survey the authors investigate how individual social-economic-political characteristics and psychometric factors shape citizens terrorism risk perception and how such risk perception and perception of government competence affect policy preference for government counterterrorism spending the authors also use the survey data to question a possible decay in the publics perception of terrorism risk and their preference towards increased counterterrorism spending over time their analysis suggests that psychometric factors are more predictive of a respondent having a higher perception level of risk and greater perceived government competency leading to the respondent being more supportive of an increase in counterterrorism spending the authors do not find there to be any significant decay in overall risk perception between the two waves but they do find positive relationships between changes in risk perception and changes in psychometric variables they also find that changes in citizens preferences for government spending are predicated by changes in perceived risk and government competence at the individual level this research contributes to the literature on the influence of risk perception on preferences for government spending liu xinsheng jeryl l mumpower kent e portney and arnold vedlitz 2018 perceived risk of terrorism and policy preferences for government counterterrorism spending: evidence from a us national panel survey risk hazard & crisis in public policy (https://doiorg/101002/rhc312154)

video dr jasen castillo addressed questions pertaining to conditions that might facilitate nuclear escalation in a conventional conflict between the us and russia and how russian nuclear strategy might affect its pursuit of foreign policy objectives more information and video from the talk can be found online here

istpp researchers dr bryce hannibal and dr arnold vedlitz recently published a paper titled social capital knowledge and the environment: the effect of interpersonal communication on climate change knowledge and policy preferences in sociological spectrum drs hannibal and vedlitz seek to identify relationships between interpersonal discussion networks and an individuals assessed and perceived scientific knowledge of climate change they then analyze these variables to determine whether knowledge mediates the relationship between climate change policy preferences and discussion networks the data used for their analysis comes from a nationally representative survey administered in 2013 that includes over 1 300 completed responses the authors use a conditional process model to provide a statistical test for the mediation effect of discussion and knowledge on policy preferences they then use a nonparametric bootstrapping test of significance with the mediation effect hannibal bryce and arnold vedlitz 2018 social capital knowledge and the environment: the effect of interpersonal communication on climate change knowledge and policy preferences sociological spectrum 38(4): 277–293 doi:https://doiorg/101080/0273217320181502108

dr jasen castillo cgs academic director published a chapter titled deliberate escalation: nuclear strategies to deter or to stop conventional attacks in coercion: the power to hurt in international politics (oxford university press 2018) edited by kelly m greenhill and peter krause

dr xinsheng liu research scientist and assistant director of the institute for science technology and public policy at the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university was recently named a changjiang scholar by the ministry of education of the peoples republic of china and the li ka shing foundation through a highly competitive process the changjiang scholar also known as the cheung kong scholar is chinas most prestigious academic honor conferred to an individual scholar in higher education it recognizes academic contributions and achievements made by both chinese and international scholars in various research fields and supports about fifty visiting chair professorships to bring prominent scholars from across the world to china to teach and conduct research at the nations leading universities most recipients are from the fields of engineering and natural sciences dr liu is one of the few awardees with expertise in social sciences with the support of the program dr liu will continue his collaborative research with chinese scholars on environmental policy natural resources management and other public policy issues from a comparative analysis perspective he will travel to china regularly in the next several years and work three months every year as a changjiang scholar visiting chair professor of the school of public administration inner mongolia university his main academic activities and objectives are to teach graduate seminars on policy theories and methods to enhance interest and skill in public policy studies as well as conduct research projects with chinese colleagues on environmental policies and sustainable development issues

after a rigorous selection process the scowcroft institute of international affairs announced the selection of two senior fellows dr elizabeth cameron and dr rebecca katz during their time with the institute they will focus on research and will both be a part of the pandemic preparedness policy program each will produce a white paper based on their findings dr elizabeth cameron dr cameron is vice president for global biological policy and programs at the nuclear threat initiative (nti) prior to working at nti dr cameron served as the senior director for global health security and biodefense on the white house national security council (nsc) staff where she was instrumental in the development and launch of the global health security agenda from 2010 to 2013 dr cameron served as the office director for cooperative threat reduction (ctr) and the senior advisor for the assistant secretary of defense for the nuclear chemical and biological defense programs in these roles she oversaw implementation of the geographic expansion of the nunn‐lugar ctr program and as a result was awarded the office of the secretary of defense medal for exceptional civilian service dr rebecca katz dr katz is an associate professor and co-director of the center for global health science and security at georgetown university prior to going to georgetown she spent ten years at the george washington university on the faculty of the milken institute school of public health her research is focused on global health security public health preparedness and health diplomacy since 2007 much of her work has been on the domestic and global implementation of the international health regulations since 2004 dr katz has been a consultant to the department of state working on issues related to the biological weapons convention pandemic influenza and disease surveillance the scowcroft institute of international affairs is a research institute housed in the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university the institute is named in honor of lt gen brent scowcroft usaf (ret) whose long and distinguished public service career included serving as national security advisor for presidents gerald ford and george h w bush the institutes core mission is to foster and disseminate policy-oriented research on international affairs by supporting faculty and student research hosting international speakers and major scholarly conferences and providing grants to outside researchers to use the holdings of the bush library

bush school professors f gregory gause iii and john schuessler have chapters in a recently published book chaos in the liberal order: the trump presidency and international politics in the twenty-first chapter 21 written by professor f gregory gause iii dives into donald trump and the middle east chapter 29 written by professor john schuessler is titled why does donald trump have so much trouble with the truth

wade jones 17 has long dreamed of making a difference in the world just a year after graduating from the bush school of government and public service at texas a&m university he has that opportunity theres no higher calling than public service so to go to [the bush school] with the idea of maybe being able to make a difference and then get the opportunity to do some good is incredible said jones jones graduated with the inaugural executive master of public service and administration (empsa) class at the bush school in 2017 now less than a year later he is crafting the solomon islands first-ever national security strategy its a dream job jones who is a native of beaumont texas said about his recent appointment as national security policy adviser for the solomon islands before he landed his current job though jones earned his bachelors degree from the american military university in business administration spent time in the us army worked as a contractor for the us department of state and ultimately earned his masters degree at the bush school in early 2014 jones was working as a government contractor in afghanistan in may 2014 his brother graduated from texas a&m and during his trip to college station for his brothers graduation jones toured the campus and visited all the famed spots on campus steeped in aggie and military tradition he was intrigued by texas a&m after moving to vanuatu in december 2015 with his wife (an australian diplomat he met while working in afghanistan) he began looking at the programs texas a&m had to offer knowing he wanted to continue his education he said he was considering the mba program when he stumbled upon the bush school and knew it was what he needed to further his career service to others has always been a value highly held by the jones family; his brother was a member of the texas a&m university corps of cadets and commissioned into the army upon graduation the bush school and its commitment to public service appealed to jones immediately in 1978 just thirty-nine years before jones graduated from the bush school the solomon islands gained independence now the new country is writing its first national security strategy jones job is to help craft this strategy once a protectorate of the united kingdom the solomon islands earned its right to self-governance and like many foundling countries faces problems in its infancy these problems include rampant corruption and tensions between a trend toward globalization and a steadfast desire held by many inhabitants to cling to traditional ways and rural roots this dichotomy makes creating a functional national security strategy challenging but the answer lies somewhere in the crossroads of these two mindsets jones said if you dont take into consideration these variables you havent properly addressed the problem said jones that balance is what jones is trying to understand and manage in his new role and his time at the bush school helped prepare him for this challenge if i hadnt earned that [empsa] degree i wouldnt have been able to transition to this role so seamlessly said jones he explained that one of the most important things he gained from the bush school was the ability to look at a seemingly insurmountable problem and then break it down into smaller more manageable bits