Though she graduated from Dartmouth in
June, Alexandra Mahler-Haug '11 has continued her engagement in both academics and
the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College as a 2011 winner of the
Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship. The Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship allows
Alexandra to continue to work on her Honors Thesis in Government with members
of the Dartmouth faculty and ultimately, pursue publication.
“The opportunity to work towards
achieving publication of my research through the Rockefeller Memorial
Fellowship is a wonderful culmination of my involvement with the Rockefeller
Center,” Alexandra said. “I am truly honored to have the chance to continue to
work on my research and take it one step further.”
Alexandra’s thesis, entitled “Going
Corporate: Investigating state use of Privatized Military Companies in the
post-Cold War era”, was also the recipient of the Rockefeller Prize in
International Relations for 2011.
She cites the active involvement of the
faculty, coupled with significant institution support, as being critical to the
success of her research so far. “The positive reception of my research from members
of the Dartmouth Faculty has been greatly encouraging throughout the entirety
of the thesis process,” Alexandra said, “and the support of the Rockefeller
Center and Dartmouth College continues to be particularly invaluable, as I
undertake further work on my thesis and pursue publication.”
Alexandra’s interest in military
outsourcing and Privatized Military Companies began during her Sophomore year,
when she took a class with Professor Bridget Coggins, who later became her
primary thesis advisor. This interest continued through her Junior year and during
Alexandra’s time abroad, when she studied at the London School of Economics and
completed a research project on the post-Cold War evolution of the ‘market for
force’, or the Privatized Military Company industry.
But Alexandra’s time with the U.S. House
of Representatives Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs as a
Class of 1952 Intern during her Junior summer was particularly formative. Alexandra’s
research, which quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the outsourcing of
security and military functions by states, was greatly informed and shaped by the
professional experience that was made possible by the Class of 1952.
“Working for the Subcommittee opened my
eyes and allowed me to experience first-hand some of the many complexities and
challenges that are inherent with military contracting and outsourcing,” said
Alexandra. “My internship provided me an invaluable base of knowledge that was
the foundation for many of the ideas that shaped my thesis research during my
Senior year—and the generous support given to me as a Class of 1952 Intern made
that experience possible.”
The Rockefeller Center also provided a
research grant to support Alexandra in her thesis research.
Alexandra does not foresee her
involvement with the Rockefeller Center ending with the Rockefeller Memorial
Fellowship. Rather, she said, “I like to think of the Fellowship as being yet
another facet of my time as a ‘Rocky student.’ Once the Fellowship ends, I am
confident that there will be yet another way for me to stay involved and
engaged.”
As an undergraduate at Dartmouth,
Alexandra was a Rockefeller Center First-Year Fellow and a Dickey Center War
and Peace Fellow, and was involved with the Rockefeller Center's Policy Research
Shop, Next America: Campus Initiative, and America Reads. Alexandra was also
Captain of the Dartmouth Figure Skating Team, and competed as a member of the
team throughout her four years at Dartmouth.
