Mai'a K. Davis Cross

Mai’a K. Davis Cross is the Dean’s Professor of Political Science, International Affairs, and Diplomacy and director of the Center for International Affairs & World Cultures at Northeastern University. She served as associate dean of faculty affairs for the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern from 2021 to 2024 and editor of the Journal of European Integration from 2018 to 2023. Cross’ research investigates the long-term driving forces behind breakthroughs in international cooperation at both the elite and societal levels. She focuses, in particular, on European Union grand strategy and security, international cooperation in outer space exploration (including space diplomacy), and public diplomacy. Her current research, supported by a major grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York, is Transnational Political Networks and the Future of Global Order.

Cross is also author or co-editor of seven books and two special journal issues. Her most recent book, The European Union’s Grand Strategy: A Planetary-Scale Approach for Safeguarding the Future, to be published with Oxford University Press in 2026, introduces the concept of “planetary grand strategy” through an examination of nine in-depth case studies across science and technology, blue and green planetary protection, and security through democracy. Her previous book, International Cooperation Against All Odds: The Ultrasocial World (Oxford University Press, 2024), examines how the human predisposition to be ultrasocial has enabled transformational ideas to grow into social movements, and eventually international cooperation.

Cross’ expertise in space diplomacy broadly includes in-depth analyses of the drivers of international cooperation and competition in outer space exploration historically to today. She has published a series of articles and policy briefs delving into how and why governmental and non-governmental actors have collaborated in the realm of space policy, including, “The Social Construction of the Space Race: Then and Now,” International Affairs, and a 2023 double-length special issue on Space Diplomacy for The Hague Journal of Diplomacy. She served on the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Space Policy from 2024 to 2025 and also led a task force on A Policy Framework for International Cooperation in Space Biotechnology.

Cross holds a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University, and a Bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.