PhD in Political Science (CUNY Graduate Center)

Interim Director, Ralph Bunche Institute
Lecturer, Baruch College-CUNY
ekaretny@gc.cuny.edu
@ekaretny

Eli Karetny, JD, PhD, is the RBI’s interim director. Prior to taking on this role, he served as deputy director and head of programs and operations. Eli is the Principal Investigator on the Institute’s core research projects, he oversees relations with sponsors,  liaises with university administration, and serves as the Institute’s grants director and financial officer. Eli also serves as the legal and financial advisor to the RBI’s Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) and the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity (CSHGCAH), and is a member of the boards of both organizations.

After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, Eli completed his PhD in International Relations at the CUNY Graduate Center. His dissertation explored monarchic themes in the work of Leo Strauss, focusing especially on Nietzsche’s influence on Strauss’s view of the role of teachers and advisors as regime-changers. Eli teaches political theory and international relations at Baruch College-CUNY.

Eli is also researcher at the Hotam School of Anthroposophy and Kabbalah, which informs his interest in how esoteric wisdom influences human affairs. He is also an advisory board member of the Society for UAP Studies

Assistant Director of Programs

PhD Candidate – Political Science (International Relations)
jacevedo@gc.cuny.edu
@huanacevedo

Juan Acevedo-Ossa is a PhD Candidate in Political Science specializing in international relations and international political economy with a special focus on multilateralism and leadership in the Global South. He came to the RBI after a spending some years working on international trade in China, Brazil and Colombia, where he also was a professor. He is a seasoned contributor of Foreign Affairs Latin America and Africa is a Country and co-author of the volume Diplomatic Strategies of Nations in the Global South Palgrave (2024). He is also a co-founder and coordinator of the China at CUNY Initiative, the Human Rights Hub, and the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity. Currently, Juan is studying the determinants of leadership of Global South countries in multilateral fora and the effects of structural power in international organizations.

Research Assistant PhD Candidate – Political Science mharb@gradcenter.cuny.edu

Malak Harb (she/her) is a PhD student in the Political Science department at the CUNY Graduate Center. Holding an LL.M. in European and International Law, her research focuses on refugee and asylum regimes, particularly the politics of reception and asylum decisions. In addition to her PhD research, she supports the Human Rights Hub initiative at the Ralph Bunche Institute and teaches at Baruch College and Roosevelt House at Hunter College.