Agenda

Interview

1. Please provide a brief outline of your training and scientific activity.

I am research-professor at the Center for International Studies at El Colegio de México since 2009. After I obtained a PhD in Political Science-International Relations from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, my broad fields of specialization have been Foreign Policy Analysis, and Contemporary Middle East politics. Accordingly, my research and main publications have focused on the foreign policy of Mexico and Latin American countries towards the Arab countries, Israel, Iran and Turkey; the policies of Central American States towards Israel and the Gulf monarchies, and the comparative foreign policies of Arab countries after regime change since 2011 (Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya).
Overall, my research and teaching are driven by three main concerns: to articulate coherent normative points of view and to connect them with practical problems; to put humans and societies back at the center of international politics, and to identify those issues which allow us to reduce the gap between theory and policy/practice. I have sought as much as possible for my academic work to somehow include those concerns, as well as for the other professional activities I have been undertaking in the past years, such as my current situation analysis of the Middle East for various media outlets in Mexico and international media, my work as a consultant for the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, my courses to
candidates to the Mexican foreign (diplomatic) service, my field-work in Mexico and Arab countries, my following of the graduate and post-graduate programs in International Relations in Mexican universities, and most recently, the link between media and foreign policy as an explanatory factor of Mexico’s positions towards the Palestine question.

2. Please state your reasons for choosing Venice and the Department for your research and teaching stay.

In March 2025, El Colegio de Mexico –a public university dedicated to research and higher education in the social sciences and humanities–, and Ca’ Foscari signed a memorandum of understanding for academic cooperation between our institutions. I was honored to have been invited by Ca’ Foscari this semester to teach the International Politics course to the students of the Masters program in Comparative International Relations, and also to participate in Seminars organized by the Department of Linguistic and Comparative Cultural Studies. I am super excited with this opportunity to engage and interact with the highly qualified colleagues and students of Ca Foscari, something which I am sure will not only enrich my work but will also open the door for an extended and long-term exchanges between our Departments.

3. Have you ever had a research collaboration with the teaching staff of Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies in the past?

In recent years, I have been able to engage in very rich dialogues about international politics with some colleagues from the Department, but so far we have not had any concrete research collaboration. I am sure that my stay in Venice will be the opportunity to establish joint research and publication projects, joint thesis supervision, among other collaborative activities.