Palm Beach Center for Democracy and Policy Research News & Updates

By Palm Beach Center for Democracy

Dr. Luis Fleischman has recently been featured in a wide range of Spanish-language media outlets—including CNN en Español, NTN24, Radio Martí, and América TV—where he discussed issues such as the Middle East, the deployment of U.S. warships in the Caribbean, and the Russia–Ukraine crisis. He has also published several articles in The National Interest, the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, and Newsmax. All articles are available on our website.

Additionally, Dr. Fleischman provided commentary on U.S. naval deployments in the Caribbean in interviews with The New York Sun and Diálogo Américas, a publication of U.S. Southern Command. He recently presented the lecture “The Meaning of the Concept ‘The Deep State’ in Contemporary Use” at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA).

Dr. Robert Rabil, Board Member of the Palm Beach Center for Democracy and Policy Research, also participated in the ASMEA conference. He contributed to panels addressing:

•  The evolution of Arab political thought
•  Developments and challenges in Syria

Dr. Rabil has been interviewed extensively in both Arabic and English, appearing on Newsmax, Israel’s i24 News, UAE’s Sky News Arabia, Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya, and Tunisia/Britain’s Al Mustakillah. His commentary has focused on developments in the Middle East and on aspects of the Trump peace initiative in the context of the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

Dr. Stephen Sussman, Co-President of the Palm Beach Center for Democracy and Policy Research, led a roundtable at the Conference on Adult and Experiential Learning titled “The Role of Experiential Learning in Public Administration Education: A Case Study Approach.” The discussion explored experiential learning—such as internships, service learning (community-based projects tied to course learning), case-based projects (real or realistic administrative scenarios), workplace-based learning, Credit for Prior Learning (CPL), and assignments integrating students’ professional experience —strengthens public administration programs, particularly for adult and mid-career learners.

At the same conference, held November 11–14, Dr. Sussman and Center Board Member Dr. Carole Huberman presented their joint research, “Enhancing Experiential Learning through Guest Speaker Engagement in Case Study Pedagogy.” The study examines how integrating real-world practitioners into case-based instruction increases authenticity, deepens applied learning, and strengthens students’ connection to real-world decision-making.

In September, both scholars presented two lectures at the Southern Conference for Public Administration. The first, “Antisemitism as a National Security Threat: Implications for Public Trust and Democratic Resilience,” examined antisemitism as a governance and security challenge that undermines public trust, erodes institutional legitimacy, and weakens democratic resilience. The second, “Modernizing Government for the 21st Century: A Comparative Study of Federal Restructuring Efforts from Truman to Trump,” traced major federal reforms—from the Hoover Commissions to Reagan’s Grace Commission, Clinton’s National Performance Review, and the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—analyzing their goals, implementation, and legacies.

Dr. Sussman was also named a Fellow at the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary
Antisemitism.