The Marcellus Policy Fellowship is the John Quincy Adams Society’s most selective program, providing promising foreign policy minds an early-career opportunity to produce independent, impact-minded research under expert guidance. Fellows learn about U.S. foreign policy from top scholars and path-breaking thinkers, refining their own ideas into a high-quality policy paper and supporting materials. The Society is pleased to release the Fall 2020 Marcellus Policy Analyses which can be found below:
Daniel Baxter
Daniel Baxter is a writer and student from New Jersey studying International Relations at George Washington University, with a focus on U.S. foreign policy and comparative politics. Daniel’s policy paper investigates how the principles of military restraint apply to U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific Region. His research focuses on the U.S.-South Korea alliance’s strategy towards North Korea and how military restraint would best serve U.S. interests in the Korean Peninsula. Read Daniel’s paper here.
Thomas Brodey
Thomas Brodey is a Junior at Amherst College. Thomas’s main areas of study are History, Political Science, and International Relations. Thomas’s policy paper focuses on American Public Diplomacy in the Middle East. For many years, American attempts to improve its image in the Middle East have been marred by overly manufactured messaging, cultural gaffes, and unwillingness to work with local media. A more effective system of Public Diplomacy would allow the U.S. to end the cycle of violence it has created in the Middle East. Read Thomas’s paper here.
Fiona Harrigan
Fiona Harrigan is a Copy Editor at Reason magazine and an associate contributor for Young Voices. Fiona’s policy paper explores the morally hazardous and strategically dangerous U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship. Fiona focuses on how arms deals between the two nations inflame regional security threats and how American weapons worsen the ongoing Yemeni Civil War. Read Fiona’s paper here.
Artur Kalandarov
Artur Kalandarov graduated magna cum laude in Government & Legal Studies from Bowdoin College. Artur was the winner of the John Quincy Adams Society/The National Interest 2020 National Foreign Policy Essay Contest. Artur’s policy paper focuses on the legal and theoretical frameworks underlying U.S. military interventions. Artur’s research considers the Powell Doctrine as a means to attain a more restrained foreign policy. Artur analyzes successful cases where the Powell Doctrine was implemented and compares them to the “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan which fail the Powell Doctrine’s strict requirements. Read Artur’s paper here.
Tyler Koteskey
Tyler Koteskey is a Senior Policy Analyst at Americans for Prosperity. Tyler’s paper focuses on how the U.S. can more sustainably and effectively provide for its defense by tailoring U.S. Naval spending to support a grand strategy of offshore balancing. Tyler’s paper identifies areas where unnecessary expenditures can be reduced and where existing priorities can be adjusted to maximize the U.S. Navy’s long-term ability to meet and deter its principal anticipated threats in the coming decades. Read Tyler’s paper here.
Geoff LaMear
Geoff LaMear is a Fellow at Defense Priorities. Geoff’s policy paper focuses on how to manage escalation with Iran-aligned non-state actors. If the U.S. seeks to promote stability and prevent being drawn into a regional conflict, it must not exacerbate cyclical escalation. Geoff offers a new approach guided by a military withdrawal from Iraq, vigorous regional diplomacy, and economic engagement with Iran. Read Geoff’s paper here.
Matthew Mai
Matthew Mai is a Junior at Rutgers University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and a minor in Critical Intelligence Studies. Matthew’s policy paper focuses on the U.S. posture towards Russia and how it can be better calibrated to reduce diplomatic hostility between both sides. Matthew identifies what U.S. interests are in Europe today and proposes policy measures designed to foster constructive engagement while also assessing the limits of what detente can achieve. Read Matthew’s paper here.
Daniel Remler
Daniel Remler is a Master’s in Public Administration candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School. Previously he worked as a Research Associate with the Economics Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Daniel’s paper explores how U.S. relations with the Philippines can be better adapted to a regional security environment more focused on the rise of China and less so on the Global War on Terror while positioning the United States to better support human rights in those countries. Read Daniel’s paper here.
Lucy Santora
Lucy Santora is a second-year Masters of Public Diplomacy Candidate at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Lucy’s policy paper develops a restraint-informed framework for the crisis in Venezuela that addresses the shortcomings of R2P and economic sanctions. Lucy’s paper emphasizes preventive efforts through public diplomacy tools while acknowledges the near inevitability of humanitarian crises. Lucy roots the evaluation of intervention in identifying key performance indicators and a sound exit strategy. Read Lucy’s paper here.
Scott Strgacich
Scott Strgacich is from Los Angeles, California, and currently works for the U.S. House of Representatives. Scott’s policy paper examines the failure of the current U.S. Naval Strategy towards Iran in the Persian Gulf. Scott recognizes regular deployments of carrier groups have failed to establish deterrence and offers a new U.S. Naval posture in the Persian Gulf led by a hesitance to deploy carrier groups in the Gulf, reducing the need for onshore facilities, and shifting the U.S. Navy’s strategic messaging. Read Scott’s paper here.