Mahika Khosla is a senior at Tufts University from Bangalore, India. She is studying Political Science with a minor in Film & Media Studies, and is broadly interested in forced migration, citizenship and human security in South Asia.
Patrick Peralta is a Racial Equity Fellow for Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies. He holds a B.A. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he served as the Vice President of its Asian American Student Union. In addition to public policy, Patrick is passionate about public-facing research on Southeast Asia, U.S. foreign policy, and democracy and human rights. As a scholar-activist, he has held research positions at the Institute for Policy Studies, the UC Berkeley Center for Southeast Asia Studies, and the UC Davis Bulosan Center for Filipinx Studies. Patrick’s work has been published in The Yale Review of International Studies and in Foreign Policy in Focus.
Mark Salman, originally from Maryland, is a Junior at the University of Maryland College Park. He is majoring in Government and Politics, with an International Relations Concentration. Mark also has a double minor in History and International Development and Conflict Management. Of Lebanese origin, Mark has focused his academic research on the historical and constitutional dynamics of Lebanon’s political system. He also has an interest in studying the intersection of political decision-making and environmental sustainability. Mark is currently researching his Senior honors thesis analyzing whether the institutionalization of indigenous values systems can motivate a government’s commitment to sustainability. He currently works as an undergraduate teaching assistant in political science, and works as an editor for JANUS, his university’s undergraduate history journal. After graduating, Mark hopes to enter the field of non-profits to work on policy and advocacy initiatives for international crises.
Imanol Varela Parrilla, originally from Puerto Rico, is a sophomore at Tufts University studying International Relations (Globalization Concentration) and Economics. His areas of interest include state fragility, institutional development, Latin American diplomacy, political culture in Latin America, and the dynamic interactions between business and government. At Tufts, Imanol participates in the Latin American Committee as President and the Puerto Rican Association as Treasurer in order to improve and develop his research and financial abilities for the future while also promoting knowledge about Latin America on campus.
Jasleen Kaur Toor, originally from New Jersey, is studying International Relations and Economics at Tufts University. Her passion for political research stems from her desire to create a more equitable world for marginalized populations. Her areas of academic interests include international legal systems as well as socio-political justice in the United States. Jasleen currently works as an intern for a law coalition, aiding the organization in providing free legal assistance to immigrants, and also serves as a UN Health & Wellness Committee Chair. In her free time, she helps grassroots organizers in New Jersey and Massachusetts, advocating for causes including prison abolition and drug policy reform. Her other interests include dancing with Tufts Bhangra, working with various political action committees on campus, and immersing herself in Spanish language study.
Yuhao (Jonathan) Lin is a senior at New York University majoring in Economics and International Relations with minors in History and Psychology. He is particularly interested in the fields of macroeconomics, geopolitics, and international finance. Throughout his undergraduate career, Jonathan has done research on relevant topics such as the Development of Singapore’s Political Economy, Latin American Capital Markets, Asset Bubble Formations, the Eurozone Crisis, and many others. In his professional career, Jonathan recently completed an internship at Standard Chartered Bank, a financial firm that operates heavily within the emerging markets, and plans to continue his career in the financial sector.
Our Interviewees
Anna Larson is an Afghanistan specialist, whose research focuses on democratization, governance and gender in conflict-affected countries. She lived in Afghanistan from 2004-2010 and has since published widely on developments in Afghan politics. She has a PhD in Post-war Recovery from the University of York, UK, and prior to relocating to the US she taught at SOAS, University of London for a number of years. Her book, Derailing Democracy in Afghanistan: Elections in an Unstable Landscape, with coauthor Noah Coburn, was published by Columbia in 2014.
Scott McDonald is a visiting lecturer at Wellesley College, a non-resident fellow at the Asia Pacific Center for Strategic Studies, and a PhD candidate at The Fletcher School. A retired US Marine Corps officer, his final active duty position was as a military professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), where he taught Chinese philosophy and strategic thought, East Asia security dynamics, national security strategy, cross-cultural communication, and strategic foresight. He also led APCSS’ first multilateral workshop in Taiwan. As a China Foreign Area Officer (FAO), he has studied in Beijing, served as an attaché in Canberra, Australia, was the first Marine Corps Affairs Officer at the American Institute in Taiwan, established the Regional Engagement Branch at III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan, and served as a strategic analyst in the Commandant’s Strategic Initiatives Group. Among his publications are The Future of the United States-Australia Alliance and China’s Global Influence: Perspectives and Recommendations. He has also published several articles including 戰略競爭?—Strategic Competition in the Journal of Indo Pacific Affairs, as well as Phase Zero: How China Exploits It, Why The US Does Not in the Naval War College Review. Mr. McDonald earned a BA in international relations from The George Washington University, an MA in national security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School, and completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI Program for national security leaders.
Hemispheres 
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