Mai'a Cross

Mai'a Cross serves as Dean’s Professor of Political Science, International Affairs, and Diplomacy at Northeastern University while directing the Center for International Affairs and World Cultures. With a scholarly focus on European/transatlantic security dynamics, she bridges evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and international relations to explore cooperation mechanisms.

• Current editor of Journal of European Integration
• Recipient of Council on Foreign Relations Lifetime Membership (2023)
• Specializes in EU crisis resilience, space diplomacy, and ultrasocial behavior analysis

Her research spans 20+ years of EU security integration studies, including prophetic works on the European Defense Union and pre-invasion Russia threat analysis. The upcoming International Cooperation Against All Odds: The Ultrasocial World (2023) examines human cooperation in climate change, nuclear disarmament, and space governance through interdisciplinary lenses.

Scientific Recognition:

• 2023 - CFR Lifetime Membership
• 2011 - Book Prize (European Studies)
• 2007 - Fulbright Scholar
• 2005 - Nobel Peace Institute Fellow

Policy engagement includes annual EU diplomat training seminars and Hague-based space security conferences. She actively connects academic research to real-time policy through Council on Foreign Relations roundtables on EU defense, space diplomacy, and diplomatic best practices.