Andre Rainville is double majoring in History and Political Science at the University of Notre Dame’s School of Arts and Letters. He is an undergraduate fellow at the Notre Dame International Security Center. Growing up in a storied Cuban-American household, Andre developed a keen interest in the Caribbean Basin, particularly in the context of military and intelligence networks as tools of oppression.
His volunteer work assisting a rural village in Costa Rica opened his eyes to the challenges faced by rural communities in the Caribbean and beyond, sparking a broader interest in understanding how sustainable development can improve rural livelihoods within the context of different political systems. This experience also deepened his desire to explore how democracy can be nurtured in these regions, and how understanding international security, totalitarianism, and foreign policy can intersect to create meaningful change.
Andre is currently beginning research on the relationship between the Cuban military, intelligence networks and the proliferation of communism in the Caribbean and Central America. After graduation, Andre hopes to pursue a masters in War Studies and later obtain his Juris Doctor with the ultimate goal of a career that will allow him to uphold US democracy and protect US national security, through policy making. Andre believes that his participation in the Kellogg Developing Researchers Program will equip him with the technical skills necessary to tackle research into the complexities of Latin American military and intelligence networks, the spread of totalitarianism, and growing international security threats in the region.