PhD in Political Science (CUNY Graduate Center)

Deputy Director, Ralph Bunche Institute
Director, Project on UAP Studies and International Security
ekaretny@gc.cuny.edu
@ekaretny

Eli Karetny, JD, PhD, is the RBI’s deputy director. He is the Principal Investigator on several core research projects, directs the Project on UAP Studies and International Security, manages the Diplomat in Residence Program, supervises graduate student research and oversees the Visiting Scholars Program, and serves as the Institute’s grants director, financial officer, and legal advisor to the 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 advisory boards of both organizations.

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. He got his JD/MBA from Temple University, served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, and received his Master’s Degree in International Relations from NYU. Eli is also researcher at the Hotam School of Anthroposophy and Kabbalah, which informs his interest in how esoteric wisdom influences human affairs.

As the director of the Project on UAP Studies and International Security, Eli hosts the UAP Working Group on UN Engagement. He is an advisory board member of the Society for UAP Studies and teaches a Masters course in UAP Studies and National Security at the CUNY Graduate Center.

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.