Security / Defense

Research Interest

Rana Nejad

Undergraduate Student
Political Science

Rana Nejad is a student at UC Berkeley completing her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Human Rights. Throughout her studies, she has focused mostly on the Middle East and North Africa region where she explores topics ranging from security and counterrorism to refugee rights and humanitarian development. Over the years, she has worked with nonprofits that advocate for the rights of immigrants and refugees along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as contributed to a number of international affairs publications. Moving forward, she hopes to further advocate for the human rights of...

Liam Mirise

Undergraduate Student
Philosophy
Global Studies

Liam Mirise is a fourth-year transfer student from Visalia, California pursuing a double major in Philosophy and Global Studies with a minor in Linguistics. His academic focus is broadly centered on development, globalization, and technology. Prior to attending UC Berkeley, he served for four years in the California Army National Guard. He currently works as a writing assistant for the Blum Center for Developing Economies, where he has been assisting with early stage research on the potential applications of distributed ledger technology in the national defense supply chain.

Evie Michele Porter

Undergraduate Student
Global Studies
Political Science

Evie Portier is a Dual Degree student from the Netherlands who is interested in international security. She is also the founder of Eefje Tutoring, and the president of STAND (the Student led movement to end mass atrocities) at Berkeley.

Gamin Kim

Undergraduate Student
Political Science

Gamin Kim is a fourth-year pursuing a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Comparative Politics and minors in Data Science, Public Policy, and Human Rights. Her interests include East Asian regional affairs, international security, the intersection between tech and policy, and insurgent violence. Gamin is also involved with the Center for Security in Politics, the Human Rights Center, and Delta Phi Epsilon, the professional fraternity centered on foreign service. After graduation, she hopes to pursue law school and learn more about tech law as it pertains to privacy and...

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.

Andrew Reddie

Assistant Adjunct Professor
School of Information
Dr. Andrew Reddie is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Cybersecurity at the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Information where he works on projects related to cybersecurity, nuclear weapons policy, wargaming, and emerging military technologies. He is also the founder and faculty director for the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab. Andrew is currently a Bridging the Gap New Era fellow, Hans J. Morgenthau fellow at Notre Dame University, a non-resident fellow at the Brute Krulak Center at Marine Corps University, faculty director at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, and...

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...

Julia Tjan

Undergraduate Student
Political Economy
Goldman School of Public Policy

Julia Tjan is a third year student from the East Bay Area majoring in Political Economy with a concentration in International Trade & Development and minoring in Public Policy. She has served as a Research Assistant for Dr. Aila Matanock’s Constitutions Project sponsored by the Defense Department’s Minerva Initiative on the legal framework of security institutions and violent instability in developing countries for over a year. Currently, she is a Business and Economic Consulting intern at SGI LLC., a DC firm that specializes in environmental sustainability and evolutionary economic...

Tanya Tandon

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Goldman School of Public Policy

Tanya Tandon is a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and double minoring in Public Policy and Human Rights. On campus, Tanya served as the President of the Association for Socially Responsible Business. Before coming to UC Berkeley, Tandon worked in the nonprofit sector at RESULTS in advocacy and legislative work. Her previous experience focused on international sustainable development with the US Green Chamber of Commerce, as well as inclusive sustainable tourism and CSR at Taj Indian Hotels Company Limited in Mumbai through...

Mariano Sigifredo

Undergraduate Student
Political Science
Goldman School of Public Policy

Mariano is an Argentinian senior student pursuing a B.A. in Political Science, with a concentration in comparative politics and the political economy of development, with a minor in Public Policy. He is interested in the distribute effects of fiscal rents in developing countries and the politics of economic development. He worked as a research assistant and a “Summer Research Fellow” on projects of international security and post-conflict contexts in Latin America. He has been working on an Honors thesis that seeks to analyze the impact of the variation of subnational regime types in...