Mark Ungar
Professor
Political Science
Location: 3413 James Hall
Phone: 718.951.5306
Fax: 718.951.4833
Email:
Mark Ungar is professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, and of the CUNY Criminal Justice Doctoral Program. He has written and edited five books and over 40 articles and book chapters on judicial reform, citizen security and policing. He is an adviser to the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras and Mexico. In 2011, he was elected to the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, the investigative body of the inter-American legal system. He has received grants and fellowships from the Ford, Tinker and Tow Foundation, and was a fellow at and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Education:
Ph.D., Columbia University - 1997 (Political Science)
M.I.A., Columbia University - 1991 (International Affairs)
B.A., Wesleyan University - 1987 (Government and English)
Areas of Expertise:
Ungar specializes in Latin American politics, criminal justice, environmental enforcement, and democratization. In particular, he develops policy recommendations and academic analysis on criminal policy and police reform in Latin America. He writes and serves as an adviser on community policing, anti-violence and human rights projects. At CUNY, he teaches graduate courses on international politics, comparative politics, the military and police, human rights and violence.
Books and Publications
with Ygor Belsik, "Illegal Supply Lines of Environmental Products from Latin America to the US," Brazil Federal Police report, 2023
(Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2023
Co-author with Earth League Interational, Criminal Convergence on Environmental Crime (Books and Publications: Other) 2022
Co-author, Explaining Environmental and Organized Crime Convergence Through a Systematic Analysis of the Operational Dynamics of Transnational Criminal Groups, Earth League International
(Books and Publications: Other) 2022
"Developing Methodologies to Assess Organized Crime Strategies in Latin America," Jack D. Gordon Institute, Florida International University (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2021
"The Armed Arena: Arms Trafficking in Latin America," Latin America Research Review (LARR), 2020 (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2020
"Combatting Armed Violence through Community Policing," in Police and Society (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2019
"Green Crime: the Environmental Links between the State and Organized Crime," in The Criminalization of States, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019 (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2019
"The Judicial Branch: Democracy's Barometer," in Democracy and Security in Latin America (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2019
"Environmental Prosecution in Latin America," Latin American Policy (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2017
Editor and Co-Author, "The 21st Century for the Amazon: Enforcing Environmental Law in the World's Biggest Rainforest," Palgrave (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2017
"Police Reform in Honduras." Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy. Taylor & Francis. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2015
"The Rot Within: Security and Corruption in Latin America." Social Research 80.4, Winter. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2013
Co-editor and co-author, Sustaining Human Rights in the 21st Century: Strategies from Latin America. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2013
"Community Policing in Honduras: Local Impacts of a National Programme." Policing and Society 22.1, March. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2012
"Environmental Policing in Latin America." Special Report for the Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2012
"Evaluation of Mexico's Police Reform," written for the federal secretary of security, Mexico. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2012
"In Honduras, A Catastrophe Long Foretold." The New York Times, op-ed, Feb. 20. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2012
"Managing Citizen Security in Latin America's Changing States and Societies." Institutions and Democracy: Essays in Honor of Alfred Stepan. Eds. Douglas Chalmers and Scott Mainwaring. University of Notre Dame Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2012
"Re-assessing Community-oriented Policing in Latin America." Policing and Society 22.1, March. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2012
"Citizen Security." The Oxford Companion to Comparative Politics. Ed. Joel Krieger. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2011
Policing Democracy: Overcoming Obtacles to Citizen Security in Latin America. Johns Hopkins University Press. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2010
"Defensoría del Pueblo (Human Rights Ombudsman Office)." The Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Scribner. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2008
"La Mano Dura: Current Dilemmas in Latin American Police Reform." Criminality, Public Security and the Challenges to Democracy in Latin America. University of Notre Dame Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2008
"Policing Youth in Latin America." Youth and Violence in Latin America. Palgrave. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2008
"The Privatization of Citizen Security in Latin America: From Elite Guards to Neighborhood Vigilantes." Social Justice. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2008
Policing Democracy: Overcoming Obstacles to Citizen Security in Latin America. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2008
Ungar, Mark and Ana Laura Magaloni. "Latin America's Prisons: A Crisis of Criminal Policy and Democratic Rule." Criminality, Public Security and the Challenges to Democracy in Latin America. University of Notre Dame Press. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2008
Ungar, Mark, and Desmond Arias. "Community Policing and Latin America's Citizen Security Crisis." Comparative Politics. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2008
"Crime, Citizen Security and Democracy in Latin America." Latin America After Neo-liberalism: Turning the Tide in the 21st Century. The New Press. (Books and Publications: Book Chapter) 2006
"The Police of Bolivia." World Police Encylopedia. Eds. Mark Ungar, et al. New York: Routledge. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2005
"The Police of Honduras." World Police Encylopedia. Eds. Mark Ungar, et al. New York: Routledge. (Books and Publications: Article (Other)) 2005
Ungar, Mark, et al. World Police Encylopedia. New York: Routledge. (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2005
"Prisons and Politics in Latin America." Human Rights Quarterly 25.4, November. (Books and Publications: Article (Peer-reviewed)) 2003
Elusive Reform: Democracy and the Rule of Law in Latin America. Lynne Rienner Publishers. (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2002
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Florida International University grant, policy briefing on corruption and Covid in Latin America (Awards and Honors) 2021
Brooklyn College Faculty Award for Excellence in Research (Awards and Honors) 2019
Tow Professorship, 2019-21 (Awards and Honors) 2019
Collaborative Grant, "Enforcement of Deforestation Laws," Indonesia Institute of Sciences (LIPI) (Grants and Fellowships) 2018
Faculty Mentor Award, CUNY Graduate Center (Awards and Honors) 2018
Outstanding Graduate Chair, Brooklyn College (Awards and Honors) 2017
Tow Faculty Research Award for project "Organized Crime and International Security" (Awards and Honors) 2016
German government fellowship, for "Organized Crime in Central America." 2015-16. (Grants and Fellowships) 2015
Principal investigator, Human Rights in Iran Unit, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
Fellow, Center for Place, Culture, and Politics, CUNY Graduate Center. (Grants and Fellowships) 2008
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"US Arms trafficking to Central America," National Firearm Conference, Washington, DC, December 2022 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2022
Mercados Ilegales del Crimen Organizado, Attorney General of Chile,October 2022 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2022
"Environmental Enforcement in the Amazon," Webinar, Funders of the Amazon Basin (FAB) (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2018
"International Peacekeeping and Contemporary Conflicts." United Nations Association of the United States. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Organized Crime in the Americas." Inter-American Defense College. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"The Crisis in Central America." Council on Foreign Relations. New York. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2014
"Organized Crime in Latin America." University of New Hampshire. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
Dae Chang International Fellow, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2013
"National Human Rights Institutions and Criminal Justice." Faculty Workshop. Harvard University Law School. Cambridge, Mass. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2009
"Policía Comunitaria (COP) y Violencia Criminal en los EE.UU." Third Internaotinal Symposium of Communtiy Policing. Bogotá. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"The Police: Advancing Citizen Security?" Violence and Citizenship in Post-authoritarian Latin America Conference. Princeton University. Princeton, N.J., March 7. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008
"Implementing Community Police in Latin America." II Foro Inter-Americano, Inter-American Development Bank. Lima, Peru, April 2. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
"Successful Police Reform: An International Comparison." Foro Internacional de Seguridad Ciudadana. Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 22. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
Professional Leadership
Justice Commission, Honduras, 2023-25 (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2023
Write White Paper on environmental crime for the Inter-American Development Bank, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Environmental Protection Agency (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2022
Lead 15-member team of $370,000 US Government project to document extortion in Central America and develop more effective policy responses. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2021
Lead effort to writing police reform roadmap for the student-led political opposition in Nicaragua (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2021
Coordinator, Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), Webinar on Arms Trafficking and Violence in the Americas (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2020
Directing team drafting regulations of Honduras's 2019 Arms Control Law (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2020
Global Council, International Network of Environmental Enforcement (INECE) (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2019
Conducted report for international organizations in Honduras to assess the country's security sector. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2010
Wrote report, Application of U.S. Anti-violence Programs in Latin America, for the Inter-American Development Bank as part of hemipheric anti-violence network. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2009
Adviser, United Nations. Developed reform proposals for security forces in Latin America for Office of Political Affairs; work with U.N. Development Program on police reform in Venezuela and Bolivia. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2008
Director, Tinker Foundation Grant ($60,000) to write best-practices manual on community policing in Latin America. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2008
Legal adviser, American Bar Association. Provide advice and affidavits on political asylum cases from Latin America. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2008
Adviser, Mendoza and La Rioja Provinces, Argentina. Formulate and implement new management, training, internal evaluation and community policing programs for the Security Secretariats and Police of Mendoza and La Rioja provinces. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2007
Adviser, Police Reform Commission, Government of Bolivia. Developed reforms on police decentralization, administration, investigation, promotion, internal affairs and community policing programs. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2005
Other Professional Activities
Commissioner, Multinational Commission of Security Reform, Honduras. Work to investigate, restructure and strengthen national police forces, courts and prosecutors. 2013
