Professor; Program Co-Chair, International Trade and Economic Diplomacy
- Office
- Casa Fuente Building CF443B
- Tel
- (831) 647-3507
- rarogowsky@miis.edu
Dr. Robert Rogowsky is co-program chair and professor of the International Trade and Economic Diplomacy (ITED) program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He also teaches as an adjunct or affiliate professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, The Center of Asian and Pacific Cooperation at George Mason University (GMU) and GMU’s School of Public Policy. Dr. Rogowsky is president of the Institute for Trade and Commercial Diplomacy.
Dr. Rogowsky spent nearly two decades at the U.S. International Trade Commission, where he served as chief economist from 1995 to 1999, and as the director of operations from 1992 to 2010. During his tenure as director, he oversaw antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, as well as maintenance of the Harmonized Tariff System. Previously, he was the acting executive director at the Consumer Product Safety Commission and deputy director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection for the Federal Trade Commission.
Dr. Rogowsky has been called upon to testify before Congress on matters involving international trade and is a frequent speaker at academic, corporate, and governmental conferences and organizations worldwide. He was also the founder and executive editor of the Journal of International Commerce and Economics, and has published widely on the topics of international trade, competition policy, and regulation.
Courses Taught
Courses offered in the past two years.
- Current term ●
- Upcoming term(s) ○
DPPG 8520 / ITDG 8520 - Intl Trade: Theory & Practice
Trade theories and policies are studied, building from microeconomic principles and using a range of techniques, from rigorous economic modeling to simulations and role playing games. Topics include an analysis of the gains from free trade and the effects of barriers to trade such as tariffs, quotas, subsidies, and other instruments of commercial policy. Institutional frameworks for international trade – including regional trade agreements and the World Trade Organization – are also addressed.
Spring 2020 - MIIS, MIIS Winter/J Term only
ITDG 8521 - International Finance
In this course, students will learn to recognize the predisposing factors of a financial crisis and policy options for optimal financial crisis management by looking at historical case studies. But first, we will look at how the ForEx (foreign exchange) market works, who are the different players, how are typical transactions structured, different exchange rate regimes (e.g. pegs, crawling bands, free floats, monetary union), factors influencing exchange rate determination, balance of payments, and sovereign debt sustainability. Students will parse multiple financial crises from both emerging markets and OECD economies. In addition to readings related to cases, students will also have regular reading assignments of current events.
Spring 2019 - MIIS, MIIS First Half of Term, Spring 2020 - MIIS, MIIS Second Half of Term
ITDG 8681 - Quant Analysis for Trade
Trade policy professionals and others interested in the impacts of trade policies on countries and industries need to understand the underlying motivations of the parties involved. To develop this understanding requires a firm grasp of the micro and macroeconomics of trade and trade policy as well as knowledge of laws and institutions. This course strengthens students' ability to conduct and interpret basic economic analysis at the national, industry, and firm level. The course is a mixture of practical analytical skills and a survey of current methodologies and research on the effects of trade policy on employment, incomes and select industrial and agricultural sectors.
Spring 2020 - MIIS
ITDG 8535 / ICCO 9535 - EconStatecraft:Culture&ConRes ●
The growing dominance of economic relations among nations requires a keen understanding of economic statecraft. Statecraft is the resolution of conflicts between governments and private parties. An essential skill for economic statecraft is to understand conflict.
To facilitate our exploration of conflict, the course draws from the field of conflict analysis and resolution, a field which seeks to intervene constructively in conflicts. However, constructive intervention demands that we think critically about conflict in order to discern its underlying causes and to understand its dynamics. From such an understanding, you may develop meaningful objectives to address, resolve, or perhaps even transform the conflict into something constructive. Moreover, objectives grounded in a thorough understanding of the conflict should drive the intervention strategy. If the linkage between analytic findings, objectives, and strategy is present, then the likelihood of a constructive outcome increases substantially. The course is designed to help you to think more critically about conflict, providing you with some tools to structure your analysis, shape your intervention objectives, and develop your strategy to achieve those objectives.
This course is inherently multi and interdisciplinary, drawing on conceptual frameworks derived from psychology, sociology, anthropology, international relations, political science, economics, and other social sciences, but also informed by all fields of human inquiry. Students will critically apply theories to seek a better understanding of conflicts, to intervene constructively, and to advance theory and practice related to statecraft.
This course explores a wide range of conflict-related theories. We begin by considering conflict narratives and discourses and our ability to think critically about conflict. Then, we will examine the major, often overlapping theories at work in the field, loosely categorized as theories of social structure, theories of human nature, and theories of culture and meaning-making.
Theories of human nature and identity – viewing each individual as a unit of analysis; accounting for “what is inside of you” with an emphasis on what lies beneath the conscious level
Theories of social structure – viewing a social institution, typically comprising sustained, hierarchical, and multi-layered relationships, as a unit of analysis; accounting for “what you are inside of” ?
Theories of culture – viewing an epistemological system of meaning-making as a unit of analysis; accounting for “what is inside us” with an emphasis on shared interpretive lenses with which to understand intercultural social phenomenon.
Fall 2018 - MIIS, Fall 2019 - MIIS
ITDG 8602 - SEM: 21st Century Trade Issues ●
The global marketplace has become more integrated, more vibrant, and more complex. As a result, it becomes more difficult to analyze, to negotiate, and to navigate. The complications and difficulties are increasingly housed and addressed within the ambit of trade policy. This course explores the changing structure of international commerce underlying and driving the trade relations evolving across the world and focuses on the most pressing trade issues that are looming for the next 5 years.
Fall 2018 - MIIS, Fall 2019 - MIIS
ITDG 8690 - Economic Diplomacy Practicum ●
The substance and practice of diplomacy are rapidly changing. The profession of representing nation states, companies and NGOs has collided with the 24-hour media cycle, terrorism and extremism, globalization and the global financial crisis, climate change, proliferation, disease, changes in demography and stresses on international institutions. This course focuses on three critical skill sets for Economic Diplomacy: Commercial Diplomacy, Trade Compliance, Strategic Export Control. The class divided in sections focusing on each and will include readings and guest lectures from practitioners prominent in their respective fields. Required research paper.
Fall 2018 - MIIS, Fall 2019 - MIIS
ITDG 8532 - Art of Negotiation
This course focuses on the art of negotiation and on critical analysis of conflicts and problems-solving strategies that lead to agreements. It begins with the neuro-science of communicating. It moves quickly to negotiation as a value-building and problem-solving exercise; cross-cultural, gender and cross-generational differences; and the hard-nosed tactics of creating and claiming value from ‘the deal.’ The course emphasizes the public policy process, domestically and internationally, political advocacy tools and techniques to assure support for desired outcomes and the skills needed to successful negotiations. Instruction includes lectures-discussions and cases studies, but emphasizes simulation exercises and critical debriefing to hone skills through ‘real world’ experience.
Spring 2019 - MIIS, MIIS First Half of Term, Spring 2019 - MIIS, MIIS Workshop
Areas of Interest
International trade, trade economics, international strategic management, antidumping and countervailing, competition policy, and regulation.
Academic Degrees
- PhD in Economics, University of Virginia
- MA in Economics, University of Virginia
- BA, Economics, Boston University
Professor Rogowsky has been teaching at the Institute since 2011.