Markos Kounalakis ( el, Μάρκος Κουναλάκης; born December 1, 1956) is an American syndicated journalist and scholar who is the second gentleman of California as the husband of

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Eleni Kounalakis Eleni Kounalakis (née Tsakopoulos; born March 3, 1966) is an American politician, businesswoman, and former diplomat serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman elect ...

. Kounalakis writes a syndicated weekly foreign affairs column for

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.McClatchy-Tribune News and is a frequent foreign affairs analyst for CBS News and

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

. Kounalakis' last syndicated weekly column appeared in the Miami Herald on November 6, 2020. His 2018 National Society of Newspaper Columnists award stated that "Kounalakis's world affairs columns not only offer strong prose and strong opinions, they offer an education." In 2019, he won a SPJ Sunshine State Award for his foreign affairs commentary and criticism. Kounalakis is a visiting fellow at the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...

and a senior fellow at the Center for Media, Data, and Society at

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

. Kounalakis is president and publisher emeritus of the ''

Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alternat ...

'', a magazine founded by Charles Peters in 1969. Along with

Ray Suarez Rafael Suarez, Jr. (born March 5, 1957), known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist and author. He is currently a visiting professor at NYU Shanghai and was previously the John J. McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies at Am ...

, he co-hosts the WorldAffairs podcast and syndicated radio program. He co-anchored with

Peter Laufer Peter David Laufer is an independent American journalist, broadcaster and documentary filmmaker working in traditional and new media. He is the James Wallace Chair in Journalism at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. ...

the nationally syndicated weekly political program, Washington Monthly on the Radio.

Early life and education

Kounalakis was born on December 1, 1956, in San Francisco to Greek immigrants. His mother Vasiliki Rozakis, was born in Chania, Crete, Greece. His father, Antonios Markos Kounalakis, was an underground guerrilla fighter against the Nazis on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

during World War II; he fought with

Constantine Mitsotakis Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given nam ...

, who later became

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

. Kounalakis received a public education in the San Francisco Bay Area and earned his bachelor's degree in political science at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1978. He received his MSc in journalism from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1988. Kounalakis earned a PhD in international relations/political science from the

in 2016. In 1988-1989, Kounalakis was a Robert Bosch Foundation fellow in Europe, attending the Bundesakademie für öffentliche Verwaltung in Bonn, Germany in 1988 and the École Nationale d'Administration in Paris, France in 1989. In 1995-1996, Kounalakis was an International Journalism Graduate Fellow at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and

El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Mex ...

in Mexico City. As an international journalism graduate fellow, he also spent time in Guatemala (1995) and Cuba (1996). In the early 1980s, he attended the International Graduate School at

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

, Sweden, where he studied international relations and became a fluent Swedish speaker.

Career

Academics

Kounalakis is a political scientist specializing in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

. His research focuses on the effects global media have on

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Kounalakis utilizes theories on communications,

neoclassical realism Neoclassical realism is a theory of international relations and an approach to foreign policy analysis. Initially coined by Gideon Rose in a 1998 ''World Politics'' review article, it is a combination of classical realist and neorealist &nda ...

soft power In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A defin ...

, and rising powers in his research. Between 2003 and 2009, Kounalakis was a regular Hoover Institution Media Fellow and has been a visiting fellow at the

at Stanford University since September 2013. Since 2010, he has been a Senior Fello

at the Center for Media, Data and Society at Central European University. In 2017, he became a Senior Research Fellow at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Crossings Institute for Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Sensitive Reporting.

Journalism

Kounalakis worked as a foreign correspondent for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Radio and Mutual News in the USSR, based in Moscow from 1991 to 1992. He previously reported for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' on the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

and the end of the Cold War in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Albania. ''Newsweek'' also sent him to cover the early phase of the Yugoslav civil war. He went to Afghanistan and covered the "Holy War Without End" for ''

Los Angeles Times Magazine The ''Los Angeles Times Magazine'' (also shortened to just ''LA'') was a monthly magazine which supplemented the Sunday edition of the ''Los Angeles Times'' newspaper on the first Sunday of the month. The magazine focused on stories and photos of ...

''. In 2002, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called him a "White Knight" for saving ''

'' magazine. Publisher Kounalakis and editor

Paul Glastris Paul Glastris is an American journalist and political columnist. Glastris is the current editor-in-chief of the ''Washington Monthly'' and was President of the United States, President Bill Clinton's chief speechwriter from September 1998 to the en ...

have since rejuvenated the magazine, grown its readership, and increased its impact, making it a "progressive must-read" in Washington, D.C., according to

James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is an ...

. Its expose of former education secretary

William Bennett William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of ...

's gambling problem brought early attention to the Kounalakis–Glastris team.

Service

Kounalakis was appointed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to serve on the

J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board was established by the United States Congress for the purpose of supervising the Fulbright Program and certain programs authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, Fulbright-Hays Act and for the ...

. He has served on the board of visitors at the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

; board of advisors at

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

and the Wilson Council at the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...

. He was the vice chairman of the board of advisors at the Southeast Europe Project at WWICS; he was a trustee of the World Affairs Council of Northern California; and formerly served as chairman of

Internews Internews Network, now Internews, is a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in California, formed in 1982. It was founded by David M. Hoffman, Kim Spencer, and Evelyn Messinger. The president and CEO is Jeanne Bourgault. Internews Europe is an i ...

Network 2002–2004; vice chairman of the California State World Trade Commission 2001–2003; and board of trustees of the Western Policy Center from 2001 to 2005. In June 2003, he chaired a multinational reconstruction conference in Athens, Greece where Iraq's media laws were drafted. He has been a trustee of

The Asia Foundation The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to "improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia". The Asia Foundation (TAF) was established in 1954 to undertake cultural and educational activities on be ...

since 2020 and joined the advisory board of the Council for International Relations in Greece in 2021. Kounalakis and his wife,

Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis Eleni Kounalakis (née Tsakopoulos; born March 3, 1966) is an American politician, businesswoman, and former diplomat serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman elect ...

, have established two chairs in politics and democracy at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Kounalakis and his wife also donated land to a foundation that is being used establish a

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

campus in

Placer County, California Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. Placer County is included in the Grea ...

Technology

Kounalakis co-produced

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

's internal "Enterprise Edition" podcast between 1992 and 1997 with co-host Peter Hirschberg at the studios o
Earwax Productions
which Kounalakis co-founded in 1983. In 1995, he became the executive producer for Visible Interactive, a start-up technology company that used Newton handheld devices for immersive interpretive experiences in venues like the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

museums. He later became the executive communications strategist at

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

, working closely with CEOs

Ed McCracken Ed McCracken was CEO of Silicon Graphics (SGI) from 1984 to 1997. Under his leadership, SGI grew from annual revenues of $5.4 million to $3.7 billion. Prior to leading Silicon Graphics, he spent 16 years as an executive with Hewlett-Packard. McC ...

and

Rick Belluzzo Richard "Rick" Belluzzo (born November 26, 1953) is an American businessman who worked as an executive at Hewlett-Packard (HP), Silicon Graphics (SGI), Microsoft (MS), Quantum Corp. (QTM), and Viavi Solutions (VIAV). He has served on the board o ...

, as well as senior executives

Kai-Fu Lee Kai-Fu Lee (; born December 3, 1961) is a Taiwanese computer scientist, businessman, and writer. He is currently based in Beijing, China. Lee developed a speaker-independent, continuous speech recognition system as his Ph.D. thesis at Carnegie ...

and Beau Vrolyk.

Personal life

Kounalakis married Eleni Tsakopoulos in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

in 2000. The couple has two sons. His wife served as the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary until 2013 and won the 2018 election for

Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to l ...

, taking office in January 2019. Like his father, Kounalakis was a blue-collar construction worker who maintains his Class A heavy equipment truck drivers license.

Published works

Books

*
Freedom isn't Free: The Price of World Order
' (February 2022) *
Defying Gravity: The Making of Newton
' (1993) *
Beyond Spin: The Power of Strategic Corporate Journalism
' (with Drew Banks, 1999) *'' Hope is a Tattered Flag: Voices of Reason and Change for the Post-Bush Era'' (June 2008) *''Reflections 1980-82: Markos Kounalakis'' (October 2012) *
Spin Wars & Spy Games: Global Media and Intelligence Gathering
' (July 2018) *
Can Public Diplomacy Survive the Internet: Bots, Echo Chambers, and Disinformation
' (with Shawn Powers, May 2017) *
Chinese Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance
' (Working Group member, November 2018) *
The Hard Truth About Soft Power
' (with Andras Simonyi, August 2011)

Film

*''

The War Prayer "The War Prayer", a short story or prose poem by Mark Twain, is a scathing indictment of war, and particularly of blind patriotic and religious fervor as motivations for war. The structure of the work is simple: an unnamed country goes to war, and ...

''

' (short film, 2007)

Notes

References

External links

Markos Kounalakis Interview
– NAMM Oral History Library (2020)
Antonios Markos Kounalakis
by Markos Kounalakis {{DEFAULTSORT:Kounalakis, Markos 1956 births Living people American male journalists American magazine publishers (people) Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American writers of Greek descent