Andre Gray

Andre Gray

Andre is pursuing dual degrees in Economics/Mathematics and Philosophy, with a minor in International Relations at the University of Southern California. His research interests include Russian and European political economy, environmental economic policy, Latin America, Arctic geopolitics and critical theory. On campus, Andre is a member of Model UN and the Environmental Affairs Organization. He is also a member of the Academy for Polymathic Study and a former web producer and writer for Neon Tommy, USC’s online news source. In the past, Andre has worked as a content writer for Guesty.com, and interned for the Belgian think tank, the Egmont Research Institute.

Disentangle And Decollectivize: Cuba’s Agricultural Reforms

Barack Obama’s historic trip to Cuba and the subsequent easing of relations has left Cuban and US scholars wondering if this is the beginning of the end for the Cuban Embargo. Since Raul Castro’s ascendence to the presidency, change has ...

Venezuela’s Opposition: Strategy and Violence

Anti-government protests called by the Venezuelan opposition Wednesday in the capital of Caracas (3 dead) were the characteristic mix of legitimate democratic demands, calculated bursts of violence and social media messaging that make up the opposition’s strategy against Maduro’s regime. ...

In Theory: The View of Podemos from the Americas

When Pablo Iglesias beat out his deputy and philosophical counterweight Errejón for leadership of Podemos in early February, he made a muted note of the party’s ongoing spiritual crisis: “There’s no doubt we’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Iglesias said, ...

Kissinger’s Putin

There’s a particular kind of foreign policy scholar who takes after the Kissinger brand of world systems and Great Man theory. In conversation, they will use their hands (having since high school taken to wearing large watches, the sleeves of ...

The Power of Christ: Russian Orthodox in Politics

In their song “Punk Prayer”, anti-Putin feminist group Pussy Riot criticizes the use of Russian Orthodox to deify the political regime: Bless our festering bastard boss, Let black cars parade the Cross, The Missionary’s in class for cash, Meet him ...

The Baltics are Bad at Chess

“The entire issue is legally absurd,” snorted the Estonian foreign minister earlier this summer, when Russia announced intentions to review the legality of granting independence to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania back in 1991. In view of ...