Obama Administration Trade Counselor Returns as Dean of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UC San Diego

February 22, 2010

By Rex Graham

Peter Cowhey has returned to his position as dean of UC San Diego’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) after his year-long service as co-leader of then President-elect Obama’s transition team for U.S. trade policy and, after the inauguration, as senior counselor at the Office of the United States Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President. 

IR/PS Professors Takeo Hoshi and Peter Gourevitch served as acting deans while Cowhey was on leave. 

Cowhey will give a public lecture titled “Reflections on Forging the U.S. Trade Agenda” at 5 p.m., Feb. 23, in the Auditorium of the Robinson Complex at IR/PS. (More details at http://irps.ucsd.edu/events/event_2010020961305.htm.)

As senior counselor to the U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, Cowhey directed policy planning and strategy, assisting Kirk in revising the priorities and objectives for U.S. trade negotiations and the implementation of trade agreements, including enforcement policy. Cowhey also drafted the Obama Administration’s trade agenda to accomplish President Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years to stimulate economic growth and create more American jobs.

Cowhey, co-author of Transforming Global Information and Communication Markets: The Political Economy of Innovation (MIT Press 2009), led an in-depth analysis of existing trade policies while serving in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

“The Bush administration regarded trade agreements more as instruments of foreign policy than as drivers of economic growth,” said Cowhey. “President Obama's goal of supporting two million good jobs by doubling exports requires a keen focus on using trade to open major markets in which the United States can do well. We have to better enforce our tights under existing trade agreements and focus on achieving better terms in new trade agreements, particularly the long-stalled Doha Round. And, as we grow trade, it will also create new opportunities for entrepreneurs creating the innovative environmental and energy technologies that are critical for sustainable global growth and new jobs for Americans.”

While serving in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Cowhey helped establish new goals for American trade negotiations in the Asia Pacific region, modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and integrate trade policy into the Administration's economic recovery strategy. He also oversaw the work of the U.S. Trade Representative on trade issues involving the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, market access and competitiveness, services and investment, and intellectual property.

Having served as dean of IR/PS and senior counselor in the U.S. Trade Office, Cowhey sees the center of gravity of U.S. trade continuing its shift toward the Pacific region, collectively the world’s population and economic center. The region also lies at the center of many of the world’s political and economic challenges.

“Given the growing importance of U.S. policies with nations in the Pacific region, I will use my most recent experiences in Washington, D.C., to help infuse a deeper sense of importance of the research, teaching and service of IR/PS,” said Cowhey.

Cowhey plans to leverage the strengths of the internationally recognized research units in IR/PS, such as the Center on Pacific Economies and the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies to generate the ideas and trained leaders that will benefit the nations of the Pacific.

“Our innovative and interdisciplinary curriculum has been crafted to blend international relations, public policy and management with a Pacific focus,” said Cowhey. “Not only is our challenging curriculum appropriate for the times, but our students also benefit from faculty members who are adept at turning theory into practical tools to solve 21st century problems.”

With more than 30 percent of IR/PS graduates pursuing careers in government agencies, the school, Cowhey said, is helping to position students to take advantage of those opportunities with internships at federal agencies such as the U.S. Treasury, Commerce and Energy departments, and the Government Accountability Office.
IR/PS also is launching a one-year executive master’s degree program beginning fall 2010. The program provides a rigorous curriculum designed to complement the experience of working professionals from the United States and countries of the Pacific region and offers career tracks in international security, international political economy and international public policy.
Cowhey said IR/PS will continue to widen its expertise in energy and environmental policy, human rights policy, ethnic conflict, economic development and social welfare policy, international macro-economic and trade policy, and the political economy of Mexico.

Sustainable economic growth is becoming another area of research and scholarship at IR/PS. The new Laboratory on International Law and Regulation is working on key issues of comparative and global regulatory policy for energy and the environment. 

The Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, a UC-wide research unit which is based in IR/PS, will continue to support the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue, an unofficial “track-two” forum for discussions of security issues among defense and foreign ministry officials and academics from the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the Koreas. 

Media Contact:Rex Graham, 858-534-5952 or ragraham@ucsd.edu