Ruxandra Paul

Ruxandra Paul

Ruxandra Paul is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Amherst College. Her book Citizens of the Market: Free Movement and Political Change in Central and Eastern Europe (under contract at Oxford University Press) examines how European citizenship practiced as free movement of people on EU territory transforms politics and perspectives on European integration in the migrants’ countries of origin. She is a co-author (with Peggy Levitt, Erica Dobbs, and Ken Sun), of Transnational Social Protection: Social Welfare Across National Borders (2023, Oxford University Press).

Ruxandra Paul received her Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University, and her B.A. in Political Science and French from Williams College.

Columns by Ruxandra Paul

Permalink to The Trump Administration Is Holding Health Hostage, and We Will All Be Sicker Because of It

The Trump Administration Is Holding Health Hostage, and We Will All Be Sicker Because of It

6 Feb 2026

Ruxandra Paul and Austin Sarat

Amherst professors Ruxandra Paul and Austin Sarat discuss the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization and its push to make vaccinations optional, arguing these actions undermine public health infrastructure both domestically and globally. Professors Paul and Sarat contend that the administration’s “America First” approach, which prioritizes individual autonomy over collective health measures and uses U.S. withdrawal as leverage for political aims, will leave Americans and the world more vulnerable to disease outbreaks and reverse decades of public health progress.