How Visiting International Scholars Contribute to the Academic Community: Meet Maurizio Geri

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Maurizio Geri has wasted no time in exploring opportunities at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government. The voluble Italian is a distinctive presence in the classroom, at panel discussions, and at various social events held throughout the semester at the school.

Visiting international scholar Maurizio Geri: 'I had great interactions with interested and passionate students.' Photos provided.

But Geri, it should be noted, is not a student, nor is he a member of the faculty. He is one of about a dozen Schar School visiting international scholars who spend a predetermined amount of time at the university. The scholars, many of them professors elsewhere, come to the Schar School to use George Mason resources in accomplishing their research and contributing to relevant classroom discussions.

In Geri's case, the senior strategic international security analyst is capitalizing on his more than 20 years of experience with nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, and international institutions to develop "a better strategy for NATO and European Union cooperation to combat hybrid warfare from Russia and China," he said.

"The work studies the technology and energy sectors in particular," he said, with hopes to "improve cooperation in dual-use emerging disruptive technologies."

Geri, an Italian Navy Lieutenant Reservist-POLAD (a political advisor), was awarded the 2023 EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoc Fellowship's Horizon Europe, a prestigious and competitive flagship program for doctoral and postdoctoral training along with a fellowship from Ca' Foscari University in Venice.

The practice of universities hosting visiting international scholars began in ancient Greece, with cross-border scholarly exchanges, notably Plato's Academy of Athens and the Library of Alexandria, where scholars from different regions shared knowledge.

In modern times, the practice was institutionalized in the late 19th century, beginning in Germany and spreading across Europe and into the United States. While the scholars benefit from research resources, the schools-including students and faculty-gain new viewpoints and fresh insights.

Maurizio Geri: 'Maurizio is eager to work with students and colleagues. He is a wonderful addition to the school.'-Professor of Public Policy Desmond Dinan

"Visiting international scholars such as Dr. Geri enrich the academic climate of the Schar School," said Schar School dean Mark J. Rozell. "They bring diverse perspectives on public policy issues and help build research and academic program collaborations for our faculty and students."

Desmond Dinan, the Schar School professor of public policy who sponsored Geri's visit, has seen the effects of a visiting professor firsthand.

"International scholars bring different perspectives, experience, and insights to the classroom and, more broadly, to the intellectual life of the school. Maurizio Geri is a great example," he said, citing Geri's credentials and activities on campus.

"He also happens to be a reservist in the Italian navy, which made his participation in my European Security class in the fall of 2024 even more interesting. On top of all that, Maurizio is eager to work with students and colleagues. He is a wonderful addition to the school."

Among the visiting international scholars at the Schar School is Tetiana Khutor, founder of the Institute of Legislative Ideas, a Ukraine-based think tank that devises legislative strategies and policies to combat corruption, assist asset recovery, and encourage good governance. She also teaches anticorruption policy as a professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Khutor came to George Mason as an academic participating in the New School's New University in Exile Consortium, made up of a global group of colleges dedicated to supporting scholars facing threats at home that force them to leave or prevent them from performing meaningful work. George Mason is one of 12 in the United States participating in the program.

Khutor and Geri participated together in a panel discussion on hybrid warfare with Russia's economic sector hosted by the Schar School Center for Security Policy Studies (CSPS) and they coauthored an op-ed in the influential political publication, The Hill.

In addition to guest lecturing and auditing several classes, Geri published his initial studies on Russian hybrid warfare against Europe's energy sector and on NATO-EU cooperation in technologies last year in the Journal of Strategic Securityand the Security and Defense Journalpublished by the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense.

At the moment, Geri is continuing his work via the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. He returns to the Schar School in the fall before finishing his fellowship in Venice in 2026.

"I had great interactions with interested and passionate students" at the Schar School, Geri said. "The faculty is always kind and very prepared. I look forward to being back in the fall."