Foreign Policy

Research Interest

Jennie Barker

Graduate Student
Political Science

Jennie Barker is a Ph.D. student in political science at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studies international influences on democratization. Her current research examines recipient government behavior toward democracy assistance. Prior to coming to UC Berkeley, Barker worked at the National Endowment for Democracy and completed a Fulbright fellowship in Germany.

Barker is also a recipient of the 2021 IIS Pre-Disseration Research Fellowship.

Joanna Vasquez

Undergraduate Student
Political Science

Joanna Vasquez is a junior from La Puente, California who is pursuing a B.A. in Political Science. Her research interests include labor law, immigration, public safety in Latin America, international relations, and foreign policy. Following her time at UC Berkeley, Vasquez hopes to work abroad as a teacher and ultimately go to law school to eventually become a labor law attorney and give back to her community.

Jai Sharma

Undergraduate Student
Computer Science
Political Science

Jai Sharma is a junior at the University of California, Berkeley, studying Computer Science and Political Science, interested in international relations and political theory. Jai has worked as a research assistant to Professor Aila Matanock since January 2021 on various projects. He has also interned at Oracle as a database engineer. Outside of his academic interests, Jai enjoys collecting records and playing guitar.

Monzerrath Ortiz

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Legal Studies

Monzerrath is a 4th year undergraduate student double majoring in political science and legal studies, and double minoring in human rights and history. Her research interests include U.S. foreign policy, Latin-American politics, legal reform, and constitutional frameworks. Aside from research, Monzerrath is also involved in UC Berkeley's co-ed international relations fraternity Delta Phi Epsilon and is an intern for California Senator Scott Wiener. Upon graduating next year, Monzerrath plans to earn a master’s degree in public policy and attend law school.

Serina Li

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Legal Studies

Serina Li is a third-year studying Political Science and Legal Studies with a minor in Global Poverty Practice. Her interests focus on the intersection between law, international relations, technology, and business. Serina Li interned at the NGO China House, where she conducted research on US-China Relations in Africa and contributed to a report published by the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. At Berkeley, Serina Li is a member of UC Berkeley's Model UN competition team and is the director of the Pre-Law Department within an ASUC office that...

Antonio Chavez-Askew

Undergraduate Student
Political Science

Antonio is a senior majoring in Political Science, he currently has a completed subfield in American Government and International Relations. His research interests include migration policy, military affairs, and post colonial politics.

Hector Cardenas

Continuing Lecturer
Goldman School of Public Policy

Hector Cardenas is a continuing lecturer at the Goldman School of Public Policy, the President and CEO of The Ergo Group and serves on the board of directors of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (Comexi). His international interests include comparative regulatory regimes, development cooperation, sustainability and North American economic integration. He teaches a course in US-Mexico Policy Relations at GSPP.

David Grewal

Professor of Law
Jurisprudence and Social Policy, Berkeley Law School

David Singh Grewal is Professor of Law at Berkeley Law School and a member of the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program. His first book, Network Power: The Social Dynamics of Globalization (Yale, 2008) offered an analysis of globalization. He teaches and writes on international law, including international economic law and international legal theory, among other topics.

Matthew Specter

Senior Fellow
Institute of European Studies

Matthew Specter (PhD, Duke) writes on 20th century European, American and global intellectual history, especially the history of German political thought and the history of IR theory. A former tenured Associate Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University, he is currently a Lecturer in History at Santa Clara University and Associate Editor of History and Theory. He is the author of Habermas: An Intellectual Biography (Cambridge 2010) and The Atlantic Realists: Empire and International Political Thought Between Germany and...

Emma Zazueta Lachenaud

Undergraduate Student
Political Economy

Emma Zazueta Lachenaud is a third-year international student at Cal studying Political Economy with a concentration in Economic Development with Econometrics. She has also completed the Haas School of Business intense summer Business for Arts, Sciences and Engineering program. Her interests include comparative politics and diplomacy, economics, international security, and how these fields intersect. Zazueta Lachenaud interned at the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament in Panama, where she conducted research and learned about the diplomatic and parliamentary field. At Berkeley, Zazueta...