Michael Donelan ‘25

Michael Donelan is a junior majoring in history and political science, and intending on minoring in peace studies and PPE. Donelan is interested in peacebuilding, democratization, and human rights protection, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. He is also interested in reexamining the classical approach to warfare, and studying how unique qualities of the contemporary world—such as highly-developed economies and high standards of living—can make confrontation methods like economic warfare more practical to developed states than violent conflict. He also hopes to study how the potential capabilities of alternative and nonviolent confrontation methods can provide developed states with a practical incentive to invest in the infrastructure and economies of their developing counterparts.

Donelan is currently focusing on learning the basics of academic research, as well as developing his language skills in Arabic and Swahili. He looks forward to utilizing those skills to research in conflict areas with the Kellogg Institute and in professional life.