Stanford University

Governance

FSI's research on the origins, character and consequences of government institutions spans continents and academic disciplines. The institute’s senior fellows and their colleagues across Stanford examine the principles of public administration and implementation. Their work focuses on how maternal health care is delivered in rural China, how public action can create wealth and eliminate poverty, and why U.S. immigration reform keeps stalling. 

FSI’s work includes comparative studies of how institutions help resolve policy and societal issues. Scholars aim to clearly define and make sense of the rule of law, examining how it is invoked and applied around the world. 

FSI researchers also investigate government services – trying to understand and measure how they work, whom they serve and how good they are. They assess energy services aimed at helping the poorest people around the world and explore public opinion on torture policies. The Children in Crisis project addresses how child health interventions interact with political reform. Specific research on governance, organizations and security capitalizes on FSI's longstanding interests and looks at how governance and organizational issues affect a nation’s ability to address security and international cooperation.

Anna M. Weichselbraun

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Anna Weichselbraun Headshot PhD

Anna Weichselbraun is a former Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2018). She is a research and teaching postdoc at the Department of European Ethnology at the University of Vienna. Her research examines the governance of technologies as well as technologies of governance.

In her book The Nuclear Order of Things: Making Safeguards Technical at the IAEA, Anna provides an intimate view of the practices and activities of nuclear safeguards inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency, and connects these quotidian practices to the geopolitics of nuclear governance.

Her current project explores problems of Anthropocene governance, that is, the social mechanisms and technological infrastructures by which humans attempt to mitigate the uncertainty emanating from each other and their environments. In 2022-23 she is a USC-Berggruen fellow looking at how experiments in blockchain-based organizational forms can inform new visions of global governance.

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John Maguire

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John Maguire leads Corporate Development for Global Commercial at Booz Allen Hamilton.   He has led business development and strategy teams for venture-backed enterprise technology companies building partner ecosystems and sourcing, negotiating, and executing reseller agreements, strategic alliances, technology partnerships, and OEM frameworks with some of the leading global commercial technology companies including most recently at Alienvault, which was acquired by AT&T.   He has also developed and executed enterprise product global GTM strategies, launched, ran, and owned P&L for enterprise business units, overseen the product design, development, launch, and shipment of enterprise products as a product and general manager, and run operations for a startup that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks.   He has worked on the buy side as a corporate development executive for a public company, led global M&A transactions for such prominent firms as Point 72, built relationships in the private and public sector and across the political spectrum as a senior staff member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and served as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy in such places as the Pentagon and Saudi Arabia.  

He has held numerous other positions within the United States Navy, the federal government, and the intelligence community and is a graduate of the US Naval Academy, the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University.

 

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Rochelle Terman

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Rochelle is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Her research examines international norms, gender and advocacy, with a focus on the Muslim world. She is currently working on a book project that examines resistance and defiance towards international norms. The manuscript is based on her dissertation, which won the 2017 Merze Tate (formerly Helen Dwight Reid) Award for the best dissertation in international relations, law, and politics from the American Political Science Association. Rochelle received her Ph.D. in Political Science with a designated emphasis in Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Before coming to Chicago, she was a post-doc at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.

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Pragmatic Engagement: A National Security Strategy for the Next President

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The United States is exceptionally secure. No country today presents a clear and imminent security threat in the way that Germany, Japan, or the Soviet Union did in the 20th century. In the short and medium term, there is also no alternative value system that could displace America’s conception of individual liberty and a market-oriented economy—principles that have been embraced by all of the world’s wealthy industrialized countries in Western Europe, North America, and East Asia.

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Where are CISAC Fellows off to?

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Everyone at CISAC loves the beginning of summer.... and yet, summer brings a tinge of nostalgia because that is also when many of our fellows leave for new adventures. We are proud of their successes and wish them great times ahead. Our lives have been enriched by their presence at CISAC and we will miss them all dearly. We thought that, like us, you would like to know where they are headed.

 

Erin Baggott
Erin Baggott

After two years at Stanford, Erin Baggott and fiancé Brett Carter, who joined a terrific panel on field research in late March, are headed off to the warmer shores of Southern California. They will join the Trojans' ranks and both will be assistant professors at the University of Southern California's School of International Relations. Topping the list of what Erin will miss are the people, as she found CISAC "full of welcoming, collegial, sunny folks. It was a pleasure to get to know you all." Her parting advice to new fellows is to get to know everyone and to enjoy the area.

 

John Cogbill
John Cogbill

John will call Fort Benning, GA, home but, as Deputy Commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, he will spend most of the next year in Afghanistan. In that context, it makes sense that one of the moments he will miss most are coffee breaks with friends at Coupa! John valued the freedom to choose his courses "and the opportunity to meet so many brilliant people." He is grateful for the chance to work in the classroom with Scott Sagan, Joe Felter, and Karl Eikenberry and feels future military fellows should take advantage of similar teaching opportunities. In addition, he wrote, "Get started on your research early. By the time classes start you're already getting close to your first deadline on the USAWC strategy paper."

 

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Kate Cronin-Furman

Kate will continue her research at Harvard's Belfer Center next year. Other than the policy workshop, where she enjoyed both the substance and the brownies, she will miss GLOW, the Global Local Workshop. GLOW, a reading group created by this year's fellows to discuss international security issues nestled at the intersection of global and local politics - terrorism, counter-terrorism, state terror, war crimes, insurgency, counter-insurgency. If Kate has any regrets, it is that she still hasn't made it up Hoover Tower.

 

Edward Geist
Edward Geist

Now completing his second year as a CISAC fellow, Edward values the interdisciplinary nature of CISAC, which has afforded him "the opportunity to branch out to write and think about new fields." He admits that the people are what he will miss the most about his time here but wishes he had spent more time in the Hoover Archives. Incoming fellows must maximize the resources that are made available to them: "Make the most of it while you can." Edward is moving to Los Angeles and will be a Associate Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation.

 

Morgan Kaplan

Morgan Kaplan

Morgan is traveling east to become a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. His two regrets are not spending more time both in the Hoover Archives and exploring the Bay Area. In typically exuberant Morgan fashion, his parting words of advice to incoming fellows are this: "Take advantage of Stanford's academic resources, be pro-active in reaching out to faculty inside and outside of CISAC, and enjoy the amazing weather!" Morgan's gratitude goes to the people who make up CISAC: "Everyone is so incredibly helpful, fun, and intelligent. Everyone supports each other personally and professionally, and I could not have asked for a better work environment to complete my dissertation research." Morgan, a GLOW member, will defend his dissertation on "Persuading Power: Insurgent Diplomacy and the International Politics of Rebellion" at the University of Chicago on July 13.

 

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Andreas Kuehn

Andreas will spend the summer working at RAND in Washington, D.C. He is finishing his second year at CISAC and has relished his time on the Farm, in particular "the incredibly community and opportunity that CISAC and Stanford offered. I got to know many great people and experts within and outside of my field of research. I loved this experience and it shaped how I think about national/international security!" Based on his experience, members of the new cohort should strive to "find a good balance between your work and the seminars and all the other events that are offered at Stanford."

 

Marshall Kuypers

Marshall Kuypers

Marshall is leaving CISAC after two years but can still be found on campus where he will be finishing his dissertation in the Department of Management Science & Engineering. He's enjoyed the science seminars in particular but recommends that new fellows "get off campus and enjoy California!" Though Marshall did not take his own advice often enough and regrets that he did not have more time to ski in Tahoe, he has enjoyed working with other excellent researchers.

 

Scott Maytan
Scott Maytan

Next up for Scott is USSTRATCOM in Omaha. Scott has enjoyed his time in the civilian world and will miss "discussing the problems I work on with people from other worldviews." He recommends that new fellows "consider how the Senior Military Fellows can help you with your research."

 

 

Terrence G. Peterson

Terry Peterson

Terry is moving across the country to the Sunshine State to join the faculty ranks as Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Florida International University. A dedicated member of the GLOW workshop, he is deeply appreciative of "the other fellows, faculty, and staff that I got to collaborate with." He will miss CISAC's collaborative atmosphere and regrets that there was not enough time for a fellows' camping trip. As parting advice, he says: "Get out and get in touch with anyone of interest right away, so that you can take full advantage of your short time here at Stanford."

 

William Spaniel
William Spaniel

The University of Pittsburgh is welcoming William as a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science. Although he wishes he had spent more time driving around the area, in particular Napa, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, William reminds new fellows that "the job market comes first. Spend all of your energy on that in the fall. Everything else can come later." Another stalwart GLOW member, he will miss having all the fellows in one place, working with them, and splitting the famous Rush Hour brownies.

 

Magda Stawkowski
Magda Stawkowski

Carrboro, NC, will be Magda's new home when she joins the Sociology and Anthropology Department at North Carolina State University as a Teaching Scholar this fall. She will miss her "amazing colleagues and friends, and the interdisciplinary research opportunities Stanford has to offer." Magda has thrived in her two years at CISAC "meeting and working with accomplished and inspiring scholars." To those following in her footsteps, Magda advises, "Get to know your cohort and make connection with scholars across campus."

 

Nina Silove
Nina Silove

Nina Silove is heading back home to Australia. She will be Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Strategic and Defense Studies Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra.

 

 

 

 

Christopher Lawrence
Chris Lawrence

Also saying goodbye, after two years at CISAC, is Chris Lawrence, who will be a post-doc at the Harvard Kennedy School.

 

 

 

 

Ivanka Barzashka

Ivanka Barzashka

Ivanka was one of six winners of a call for proposals on new technologies and the future of deterrence. She currently manages and serves as the lead researcher of a Carnegie-sponsored project "Understanding How Missile Defense Will Affect Nuclear Deterrence and Stability in the New Strategic Environment." 

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Morgan Kaplan and Kate Cronin-Furman Steve Fyffe
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Reset of U.S. Nuclear Waste Management Strategy and Policy Meeting #5: Regulations, Risk and Safety

RESET of U.S. Nuclear Waste Managements Strategy and Policy

Meeting #5: Regulations, Risk and Safety

October 26-27, 2016, Stanford University

 

One of the unique challenges of the safe storage and disposal of nuclear waste is the very long time frame over which the safety of different strategies is evaluated.  These evaluations typically involve models that capture atomic-scale processes, such as diffusion and corrosion, to global-scale processes, such as climate change and tectonic events.  At each scale, the models are often highly coupled, the outcome of one modeled process becoming the input for the next.  The safety analysis becomes the basis for determining risk to the public and environment and is used to determine whether a specific, nuclear waste repository or storage facility will meet regulatory requirements.  Thus, there is an inter-play among the determination of risk, regulatory compliance and safety.  Finally, these analysis become part of the discussion of safety and acceptability by political institutions and the public.

In this fifth meeting of the series of RESET meetings, the speakers will explore a number of these issues from a technical, as well as social science, perspective.

Topics and questions that we expect to discuss during the meeting include:

  • Comparison of different international approaches to the analysis of risk.
  • Comparison of the regulatory structures of different countries.
  • What is a “safety case” and how is this approach related to a quantitative probabilistic risk analysis?
  • What is the relation between regulatory compliance and safety?
  • What time periods can be evaluated? Why one million years? Is this necessary or credible?
  • How does one maintain the credibility of the regulations and the regulator?
  • Once a facility or repository is determined to be in regulatory compliance, how can subsequent, new knowledge be applied to the safety analysis?
  • What is the role of public engagement? What role should communities near nuclear facilities play in the regulatory process?

Reset Conference Document for meeting no. 5 can be accessed through this link.

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For information related to the first meeting in this series, and relevant materials, please click here.

For information related to the second meeting in this series, and relevant materials, please click here.

For information related to the third meeting in this series, and relevant materials, please click here.

For information related to the fourth meeting in this series, and relevant materials, please click here.

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The Pivot before the Pivot: U.S. Strategy to Preserve the Power Balance in Asia

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The United States’ strategic reorientation toward the Asia Pacific began not under the Barack Obama administration, but under the George W. Bush administration. As part of this reorientation, the Bush administration pursued a series of military, political, and economic policies aimed at engaging with and balancing against China, not containing it.

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Cybersecurity Regulations and Power Grid Resilience

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Abstract: The NERC-CIP standards are the only federally mandated cybersecurity standards for critical infrastructure in the United States.  Targeting the electric system, the standards have been developed to ensure the reliability and the resilience of the electric grid and prevent catastrophic failures.  Although the standards have been around for almost a decade, their role in building the resilience of the electric grid is fiercely contested, with critics claiming the standards represent little more than a ‘check box’ exercise that directs attention and resources away from achieving real security.  This talk will present evidence on the effectiveness of the standards in addressing risk and offer suggestions as to how the standards might be improved to enhance resilience.

About the Speaker: Aaron Clark-Ginsberg is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Postdoctoral Scholar at CISAC.  His research interests center on the theory and practice of disaster risk governance, particularly resilience and disaster risk reduction approaches.  He is currently researching how government regulations designed to improve the resilience of the power grid to cyber-threats are affecting utility companies.

Aaron holds a PhD and MSc in Humanitarian Action from the University College Dublin and a BA in American Studies with a Concentration in Environmental Studies from Kenyon College.  Aaron's doctoral research examined how international NGOs interacted with national stakeholders to reduce disaster risk in developing countries.  As part of this, Aaron traveled to ten countries in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean to review risk reduction and resilience building approaches addressing a variety of hazards including flooding, drought, price shocks, cyclones, landslides, erosion, disease, and conflict.

Aaron has extensive experience in real world application of risk management principles.  Aaron’s PhD was in conjunction with Concern Worldwide, an international Irish humanitarian organization.  While at Concern, Aaron produced a series of reports on risk management in different countries and contexts designed to improve the effectiveness of Concern’s approach to risk reduction. He has also conducted policy-focused research on humanitarian reform for the World Humanitarian Summit Irish Consultative Process, the results of which were used to help develop the Irish position on humanitarian action. Aaron also spent four seasons working as a wildland firefighter for various governmental and private sector organizations across the western United States.

 
Cybersecurity Regulations and Power Grid Resilience (preliminary findings)
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CISAC Honors Students Prize-Winning Presentations

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- To ensure an accurate headcount for lunch, RSVPs are required - 

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To Be Announced Honors Student CISAC Honors Program in International Security Studies

Benjamin Mittelberger

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CISAC Honors Student
benmittelberger_rsd16_003_0098a.jpg Class of 2016

Ben Mittelberger is a senior in computer science concentrating in information systems design and implementation. He is a current student in the CISAC Honors Program. His thesis is titled: "In Data We Trust?: The Big Data Capabilities of the National Counterterrorism Center." It focuses on the increasing size and complexity of intelligence datasets and whether or not the center is structured properly to leverage them. He is advised by Dr. Martha Crenshaw. 

Honors Student CISAC Honors Program in International Security Studies
Honors Student CISAC Honors Program in International Security Studies
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Knowledge Infrastructures for a Changing Planet: the past, present, and future of relations between climate science and nuclear weapons research

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Abstract: Nuclear war and climate change present the two most serious threats to global security since World War II. This talk shows that nuclear weapons research and climate science were historically connected in deep, sometimes intimate ways. Each developed its own knowledge infrastructure, including people, technical systems, and organizations, with surprising parallels and frequent exchanges across the classified/civilian divide. From the 1940s on, nuclear weapons research and climate science both relied heavily on computer models, used related physics and numerical methods, and shared human as well as technical resources. Radiocarbon from nuclear weapons tests contributed to understanding of the global carbon cycle, while fallout monitoring networks produced critical knowledge about the stratosphere. In the 1980s, the potential for “nuclear winter” — a war-induced climatic catastrophe — became a major political issue, but the groundwork for this concern had been laid long before.

This interplay not only continued, but became even more significant after the Cold War’s end, when the weapons labs’ expertise, equipment, and observing systems were partially repurposed. Several US national laboratories now play essential roles in climate and Earth system science. Among these roles are the Program on Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison, based at Livermore and responsible for the important Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), a major unifying force in climate modeling for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments. The cyberinfrastructure underlying CMIP and similar projects must address mounting challenges related to data access controls, software support, and the security of huge data collections, while their institutional and human bases depend on ongoing national support. Crafting effective climate policy, I argue, will require understanding and rethinking the dynamics of these knowledge infrastructures for the present, rapidly evolving context.

About the Speaker: Paul Edwards is a Professor in the School of Information (SI) and the Dept. of History at the University of Michigan. SI is an interdisciplinary professional school focused on bringing people, information, and technology together in more valuable ways.

His research explores the history, politics, and cultural aspects of computers, information infrastructures, and global climate science. His current research focuses on knowledge infrastructures for the Anthropocene.

Dr. Edwards is co-editor (with Geoffrey C. Bowker) of the Infrastructures book series (MIT Press), and he serves on the editorial boards of Big Data & Society: Critical Interdisciplinary Inquiries and Information & Culture: A Journal of History. His most recent book is A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (MIT Press, 2010).

 

 

Paul Edwards Professor of Information and History University of Michigan
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