Max Stephenson, Jr., currently serves as a professor of public and international affairs and the director of the Institute for Policy and Governance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). His research and teaching interests include civil society and democratic theory, social change processes, international development, human rights and refugees, and peacebuilding. He is the author or editor of 13 books and monographs and more than 80 refereed articles and book chapters. He has also authored more than 400 commentaries addressing US and international politics.