After an extensive consultation, planning and regents approval process, Provost Chaouki Abdallah has announced the establishment of the UNM Global and National Security Policy Institute (GNSPI) and the appointment of Emile Nakhleh as its part-time director. An internal advisory board made up of UNM faculty and academic leaders has also been established. The Institute will launch its first educational offerings in the Fall 2016 semester.
GNSPI is an interdisciplinary educational and research program that addresses both global and national security issues and consists of established disciplines and programs related to national and global security at UNM. It will involve collaborative research with federal agencies and companies and is focused on educating future leaders, personnel from companies and laboratories, as well as enhancing our graduates’ competitive edge in the job market.
“I am pleased to be a part of the creation of this new institute. The combination of educational offerings and research have the potential to provide better solutions to global problems that range from terrorism to technology transfer, health crises, trade, global financial investments, among others. Its importance for UNM and its students cannot be understated,” said Abdallah.
Nakhleh said, “This global and national security program will help put the University of New Mexico on the national map as a “global and national security” university. It’s been an honor and privilege for to work with senior UNM administrators and educational leaders over the past two years in order to bring this initiative to fruition. This is win-win for the university, the wider community, the Department of Energy labs, and the business community.”
Nakhleh is a retired senior intelligence service officer and research professor at UNM, a National Intelligence Council/IC Associate, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to his government service, Nakhleh was a professor of Political Science and International Studies and a department chair at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland.
His research and publications have focused on political Islam and Muslim world engagement, Islamic radicalization and terrorism in the Middle East and the rest of the Muslim world; governance in the greater Middle East; and US policy toward the Middle East and the Muslim world. He holds a Ph.D. from the American University, Washington, D.C., in International Relations, an M.A. from Georgetown University in Political Science, and a B.A. from Saint John’s University, Minnesota, in Political Science.