Aila Matanock, a new GPS faculty member, studies the curious phenomenon of when one country asks another to take the reins over part of its government
On some trivia game shows, if a contestant is stumped, they have one opportunity to contact a friend or relative to provide help.
Few, if any, studies have looked into the success rate of “phoning a friend.” But Aila Matanock — who this year joined the faculty at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) as an associate professor — is studying whether a similar principle is effective when it comes to geopolitics and national security.
Specifically, Matanock studies what happens when states invite others to intervene in their own internal affairs. She explained that in some countries, leaders have called on the help of a more powerful country or intergovernmental organization to carry out the work of governance, which can include policing, supporting military operations and even running the judicial system.
A ‘happy’ medium for state intervention?
“When we talk about international interventions, we tend to think about either large-scale invasions on one end, or we think about soft types of intervention, like foreign aid or training,” she explained. “It turns out there’s this really big middle section between those two extremes.”
In her research, Matanock focuses on how this plays out in the realm of security. She emphasized that for these unique forms of foreign interventions, the scope goes well beyond achieving a discrete objective or stabilizing unrest.
“They’re really getting into the policing sector and the judicial sector and changing the way that they’re structured,” she said. “That’s a pretty big puzzle, given how sensitive security functions are for states and how they’re a source of power, especially for leaders.”
As she pursues this, she is furthering the school’s excellence in the realm of security studies. In fact, even before arriving at GPS as a member of its faculty, she has for many years been a faculty researcher with the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), which is based at UC San Diego.
Matanock said that this area of study is crucial for GPS students to learn, as it will have a direct impact on what many of them go on to do after their studies. Whether students end up working for a large international body like the UN, a powerful nation or a country facing challenges, she said that it’s important for them to know the benefits — and limitations — of this strategy.
Her expertise in these types of “invited interventions” ties directly into the geopolitical areas which GPS is a destination for.
Matanock gave the example of the Solomon Islands, which invited an Australian-led mission to take control of a surprising amount of government infrastructure. The outsiders proceeded to discipline roughly a third of the Solomon Islands’ police force, and crime rates dropped dramatically.
“We tend to think about either large-scale invasions on one end, or we think about soft types of intervention, like foreign aid or training. It turns out there’s this really big middle section between those two extremes.”
Aila Matanock, Associate professor
“The Solomon Islands case is one that has puzzled many people,” she said. “Why would they invite that level of intervention by foreigners into not only their police, but almost all of their structures of governance?”
The domestic leaders at the time, concerned about pressing crises, had incentives to push reform, and it had some positive effects — although the foreign operation faced backlash over time.
Now, the Solomon Islands have swapped their partnership with Australia for one with China. China is actively pursuing inroads in other countries in the region, and it offers a very different type of security assistance, less focused on reform. As a result, domestic institutions and international relations may both experience dramatic change from the democratic-leaning, Western-allied status quo.
Spurred to action
Matanock’s interest in security issues dates back to her undergraduate years.
“During my first couple of weeks at Harvard, the 9/11 attacks happened,” she recalled. “To see this very major moment that changed the way in which we think about politics — it definitely shaped my trajectory going forward.”
So, driven to understand how something so devastating could happen and what could be done to prevent it, Matanock studied terrorism.
During college, she worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory; after the attacks, she found her way to its Complex Systems Group as it pivoted to modeling militant groups. Then, after writing her honors thesis on terrorism in Latin America and graduating, Matanock went on to work at the RAND Corporation, where she expanded her expertise by working on projects on attacks and weapons worldwide.
“To see this very major moment that changed the way in which we think about politics — it definitely shaped my trajectory going forward.”
Outside the classroom
When Matanock refers to states in her work, she is usually using the term to represent entire nations. But there’s another state, used in the more familiar American sense, that she spends a lot of time thinking about: New Mexico, where she is originally from.
“I really love breakfast burritos in particular. And in New Mexico, there’s a very specific kind of breakfast burrito — they always have green chile in them,” she said. “So I’m always on the hunt for the best possible breakfast burrito, and I’m sure I’ll be trying a bunch of places in San Diego.”
Matanock is also a fan of playing and watching soccer, which she aims to continue doing in her new home in San Diego. She couldn’t have picked a better place to move: In just the past few years, San Diego has seen the debut of both women’s and men’s professional teams.
Foreign powers may not meet their goals when they take up requests to intervene in another country’s affairs — but it’s likely that Matanock will at least score some goals of her own in America’s Finest City.
