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Michael Contarino

Program Coordinator and Associate Professor of Political Science

Social Science Division, Politics and Society Program

Michael Contarino is Coordinator of the Politics and Society program at UNH Manchester, where he teaches International Political Economy, World Politics, The US and World Affairs, European and Italian Politics, and Politics and Society. In 2002, he founded and served as the first Resident Director of the UNH in Italy Program. During his last sabbatical, he was the Senior Foreign Policy advisor to the Presidential campaign of Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, and the chief architect of his "New Realism" foreign policy.

Dr. Contarino received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1984, and has held several non-academic positions, including four years as an Economic Affairs Officer for the United Nations World Food Council in Rome. His writings in the area of Political Economy have been published in such journals as Comparative Political Studies and British Journal of Industrial Relations. Currently, his research focuses on US Foreign Policy, International Human Rights and the International Criminal Court.

Areas of Interest

US Foreign Policy, International Human Rights, Italian Politics

Selected Publications

• Stopping the Killing: The International Criminal Court and Juridical Determination of the Responsibility to Protect" (with Selena Lucent) Global Responsibility to Protect, 1 (2009)
• "Its Not What You Think: Partisan Identity And Ideology Among Italian And American Voters" Article in progress
• "Obama Shares Richardson's Foreign Policy Vision," The Hill, 2/5/2008
• "A New Realism: A Realistic and Principled Foreign Policy" (for Governor Bill Richardson) Foreign Affairs January-February, 2008 , Vol. 87 (1)
• "A New Human Rights Agenda for the United States: New Realism, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law" (for Governor Bill Richardson) Harvard Human Rights Journal, Vol 21, Spring 2008
• "A New Realism for a New Century" (for Governor Bill Richardson) NationalInterest.org Dec. 2007
• "A New Realism: Crafting a US Foreign Policy for a New Century" (for Governor Bill Richardson) Harvard International Review, Vol 29 (2) Summer 2007
• "Italy's December 1998 Social Pact for Development and Employment: Toward a new political economy for a 'normal country'?" In Gianfranco Pasquino and Mark Gilbert, eds., Italian Politics: The Faltering Transition, Oxford: Berghahn, 2000
• "Il Patto Sociale per lo sviluppo e l'occupazione: verso una nuova economia politica per un paese normale?" In Gianfranco Pasquino and Mark Gilbert, eds., Politica in Italia: I Fatti dell'Anno e le Interpretazioni, Edizione 2000. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1999.
• "Concertational and Free-Market Paths to Successful Territorial Economic Adjustment: Labor Unions and Adjustment in the 1990's" British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 36, n.1, March, 1998.
• "The Lost Province of White Italy: Labor markets and Industrial Adjustment in Treviso, Montebelluna and New Hampshire" Italian Politics and Society, Spring, 1998.
• "The British Elections of 1997: Implications for European Integration" New Hampshire Council on World Affairs Bulletin, vol. 43, n.1, July, 1997.
• "The Local Political Economy of Industrial Adjustment: Variations in Trade Union Responses to Industrial Restructuring in the Italian Textile-Clothing Sector" Comparative Political Studies, vol. 28, n.1, Spring, 1995

Education

• Ph.D., Harvard University, 1984
• B.A., Connecticut College, 1976

Courses Taught

• World Politics
• US and World Affairs
• International Political Economy
• The Politics of International Trade and Development
• Contemporary European Politics
• The European Union
• The Politics of Italy
• Interdisciplinary Field Seminar on Italy
• Politics and Society
• Business, Government and Society
• Comparative Political Economy
• The Political Economy of World Hunger
• Social & Political Economic Theory
• Senior Interdisciplinary Seminar in Politics & Society

Speakers Bureau

Professor Contarino has held numerous teaching positions in the United States and Europe. In addition to teaching, Michael has served as an Economic Affairs Officer for the United Nations World Food Council in Rome, a consultant for Business International in Rome and as a freelance journalist for the Associated Press in Rome.

Speakers Bureau Topics

• US Foreign Policy
• European Politics
• Industrial Restructuring & Transformation
• Contemporary Italian Politics
• Comparative & International Political Economy

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