U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings mark UMBC as tied for #127 among national universities, up 17 places from 2025, and tied for #63 on the list of top public schools, up 11 places. The rankings are based on a large variety of factors such as graduation rates, faculty resources, and academic reputation. 

UMBC was also tied for #86 in top colleges for veterans, evidence that the university’s initiatives to support veteran students’ success are paying off. 

“We are excited to see UMBC’s upward trajectory recognized in these rankings,” says Yvette Mozie-Ross ’88, vice provost for enrollment management and planning. “These gains reflect our strong commitment to student success, access, and innovation—hallmarks of a UMBC education that continue to set us apart nationally.”

Veteran services an example of strong student support 

Two years ago, Dennis Walker, Jr., was hired as the assistant director for adult learners and veteran student success.

UMBC being recognized by U.S. News for its efforts in serving veteran and military-affiliated students is more than just an institutional achievement, he says, but a celebration of the positive impact that new veteran-focused initiatives are having on campus. 

“With the support of UMBC leadership, I take great pride in knowing that our collective commitment is helping to ensure that these students feel supported, valued, and equipped to succeed during such a pivotal stage of their personal, academic, and professional journeys,”  says Walker.

UMBC strives to provide holistic support to veteran and military-affiliated students, Walker says. This includes help navigating their educational benefits, access to mental health resources, professional development such as resume workshops and connections to on-campus job opportunities, and dedicated events, spaces, and student organizations that offer a sense of community. 

As part of these efforts, UMBC opened a Veterans Lounge in fall 2024, where veteran students can relax and connect with each other. Each year, UMBC also hosts Veterans Week, a tradition that honors the service and contributions of veteran students and staff with a variety of fun and educational events. 

“Supporting our veteran population is not only a responsibility, but also a privilege,” Walker says. “Our veteran and military-affiliated student population bring unique perspectives, experiences, and strengths to our campus community. Their dedication, resilience, and leadership not only enrich the university as a whole, but also inspire us to continually enhance the ways in which we support them.”

Read more about UMBC’s national rankings recognition. 

Moments after the final notes of a Mozart flute concerto resounded from the walls of UMBC’s Linehan Concert Hall, the sold-out audience rose to their feet to applaud Martha Long, principal flutist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Beside her, conductor Jonathon Heyward beamed in admiration, letting the applause linger before signaling the start of the next piece. 

The BSO’s concert on September 17 served as a fitting kick off for Arts+ at UMBC, a new initiative created to uplift the visual and performing arts at UMBC and to bring the surrounding community to campus to enjoy a vibrant celebration of creativity. 

“As the inaugural performing arts event of our 2025 – 26 season, the BSO’s performance perfectly exemplified the power of the arts to bring together a diverse community—students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors, and the general public—for a marvelous shared experience,” says Tom Moore, co-chair of the Arts+ initiative and director of arts and culture. “As we build on the momentum of the BSO, it’s our intention that Arts+ events across the disciplines create similar opportunities to build a more vibrant campus community, to raise awareness of the excellence in our arts programs, and to establish UMBC as a renowned destination point for exhibitions, performances, lectures, and more.”

Impact of the arts

Throughout the year, Arts+ will explore a number of thematic areas, including Trailblazers; The Harlem Renaissance; Space, Place, and Justice; Connecting the Arts; and Artful Stories. Programming will celebrate not only work produced by faculty, departments, and centers, but also highlight student-produced pieces. Through a partnership with the Division of Student Affairs, more than 40 student events ranging from film festivals to exhibitions to music theater will celebrate the impact of the arts on the lives of our students, regardless of major.

With the support of the Arts+ initiative, alumni and student organizations are adding their artistic endeavors and passion for creativity to the campus landscape. For Jayden Rhodes ’25, design leader of the Cheeky Magpie Collective, that means helping transform the Fine Arts Building with window art on all five levels with playful shapes and colors. “We wanted to create a vibrant and energetic composition that called attention to the creativity contained within the university’s walls while also encouraging the emerging artists at UMBC,” says Rhodes, a Linehan Artist Scholar. The Cheeky Magpie Collective is made up of fellow class of 2025 design majors Gwen Knott, Jalen Boyd, Thomas Hammond, and Ni Truong.

On December 5, there will be a campus celebration of the Arts+ programming, says Linda Dusman, co-chair of the Arts+. “This is our pilot year—we’ve never done anything this big,” says Dusman, music professor, who looks forward to seeing the interdisciplinary success of the initiative, threading all of UMBC’s arts programming together more seamlessly. The end-of-fall celebration will feature collaborative performances and exhibits from each art department and center on campus. In one night, the festival atmosphere will highlight all the possibilities the arts possess. “Especially in dark times, art can bring things into focus that allow for reflecting, enjoyment, and processing,” says Dusman. She adds: “Everyone is going to be shining that night.”  

Find other Arts+ events and keep up with UMBC’s arts and culture on campus. 

Kayla Logue ’27 is a 2025 UCM intern and Linehan Scholar who is majoring in dance.

Meet Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman ’19, mathematics with a minor in economics. Anna is an award-winning Ghanaian American researcher and writer and a doctoral student studying public policy and economics at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Anna is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Boston honoree and the youngest recipient of a CEDAW Women’s Rights Award by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women—previously awarded to Vice President Kamala Harris and former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Anna’s newest book, “The Double Tax: How Women of Color are Overcharged and Underpaid,” explores why it’s so expensive to be a woman in America and why it doesn’t have to be this way. Take it away, Anna!

Q: What initially brought you to UMBC?

A: I came to UMBC from the University of Maryland, College Park. On a large campus, I felt too much like a number and not like an actual person. I also felt, in my gut, that College Park wasn’t the right campus for the kind of growth I knew needed to happen to transition into adulthood. UMBC, at first, seemed like the right fit, but I struggled a lot to find my place and to find my voice. I didn’t immediately know what I wanted to do right away. It actually took me until my junior year to figure out the path I am on now, and even then, I wasn’t too sure! That said, the communities on this campus really became the match for the fire I feel today in the work I do. The educators, the students, and the organizations have fueled me throughout, even now as an alum.

Q: Were you involved in any student organizations at UMBC?

A: One of my favorite organizations to lead and be a part of was the UMBC chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). There’s something about being part of a Black-led organization alongside Black students that was so empowering. I was educated at predominantly white schools up until college, so between participating in NSBE, where we started new traditions like the annual NSBE pageant and launched the first U.S. conference for Black women economists, and being part of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, I felt more seen than I had in the years prior.

Q: Who in the UMBC community has inspired you or supported you?

A: There are a couple of people across the UMBC community who have made a big impact on me, but I want to focus on two people specifically: Bonny Tighe and Jacqueline King, Ph.D. ’09, human services psychology. Ms. Tighe taught my Calculus II class, which at the time was one of the most difficult courses offered for STEM majors. She and Dr. Kalman Nanes really believed that I could do hard things, and her class became a turning point for me—math was really something I could pursue in college. She’s also hilarious.

Dr. King is my soul sister, truly a kindred spirit. She is part of what I like to call my Mount Rushmore of educators. Dr. King led the MARC/URISE program, which funded my final years of college. She saw me stumble in with no plan, no purpose, and no direction, and coached me into the life I am living and thriving in today. She and I touched base weekly, sometimes just to catch up, and her guidance fundamentally changed my college experience. I owe her so much.

Q: Can you tell us more about your work as an author?

A: The work I do as a writer cuts across race, gender, and the economy, with an eye toward making the workplace a fairer place. In 2022, I published a critically acclaimed collection, The Black Agenda, which was the first trade publication to exclusively feature Black scholars and experts across economics, education, health, climate, criminal justice, and technology. In September 2025, I published The Double Tax, which explores why it’s so expensive to be a woman in America and how the individual costs women of color face become societal costs later on. You’ve probably heard of the pink tax—that additional price women pay to exist in the same world as men. Now meet the double tax, the compounded cost of racism and sexism, or the pink tax and then some. 

I am currently hosting events across the country and hope you’ll join me! If interested, RSVP by visiting my website: annagifty.com!

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about us?

A: UMBC is a small school, but finding community is still the best way to make your time on campus count. I talk a little bit about my time at UMBC in my new book, The Double Tax, namely, how when I first arrived, I was so lost in the sea of ambition and among the students who seemed to have it all together. I think finding community on campus via clubs, organizations, and academic affiliations made this school feel more like home and ultimately became the driver of the success I am experiencing today.

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals.

Train delays can cascade into stalled commutes, economic losses, and vacation snags. Scheduling trains is computationally complex, though: It can take hours or days to solve large transportation networks on traditional computers, when disruptions like train breakdowns or traffic accidents demand much quicker solutions. A new study led by UMBC researchers—and focused on Baltimore’s Light RailLink, a hybrid tram-rail network sharing roads with cars inside Baltimore City—harnesses quantum computing to address this challenge, using an approach that blends physics, computer science, and mathematics.

In their new paper, Sebastian Deffner, associate professor of physics; postdoctoral fellow Emery Doucet; doctoral candidate Reece Robertson; and collaborators Krzysztof Domino and Bartłomiej Gardas at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics in the Polish Academy of Sciences tested whether quantum devices could manage train schedules under real-world conditions. The team leveraged the “noise” inherent in quantum computers—random, unwanted disturbances that cause an effect similar to radio static—to model unpredictable train travel times. 

Their results suggest that quantum computers can solve transportation scheduling problems, but more advanced hardware is needed to make using quantum devices practical, especially for larger networks. 

Randomness on the rails

Doucet and Robertson discussed the work at Baltimore’s Camden Yards LightRail Link Station, while Orioles baseball fans unloaded from trains at regular intervals and delivery trucks rumbled by. Their enthusiasm cut through the urban din, their voices rising over the clatter and clank of passing Baltimore Light RailLink cars.

“How long it takes you to get between two stations where you have a lot of shared infrastructure in between—you can’t really predict that precisely,” Doucet says, gesturing toward the tracks and their intersection with a nearby stoplight. This randomness complicates scheduling, but the team’s diverse expertise—spanning theoretical physics, algorithm design, and quantum hardware—facilitated creative solutions.

Noisy doesn’t have to be bad

Current quantum computers are classified as “NISQ,” or “noisy intermediate-scale quantum,”  pronounced “nisk.” That means they’re error-prone with only moderate power. Rather than fighting the noise, though, the researchers used it to mimic everyday randomness, like traffic delays. 

“The ‘N’ in NISQ stands for ‘noisy,’ but that doesn’t mean that the noise has to always be deleterious,” Doucet explains. “We wondered if maybe we could use the noise that the device is subject to as a tool to model the chaos and randomness.”

The team tested their approach on two different quantum computers, one made by IonQ, which is headquartered in Maryland, and the other by D-Wave. Each company’s quantum devices use quantum bits, or qubits, slightly differently to process information. The research team was able to solve scheduling problems with up to 12 trains on D-Wave’s system, which contains thousands of qubits, and only two trains on IonQ’s 25-qubit system. 

This proof-of-principle work demonstrates that quantum computers can tackle concrete problems, though they’re not yet faster or cheaper than classical supercomputers for large networks—the experiments cost about $65,000. 

“What we’ve shown is that with the currently available hardware, you can already solve practical problems,” Deffner, senior author on the new paper, says. The study highlights the need for larger, less noisy quantum systems to handle bigger networks.

Merging expertise, expanding possibilities

The potential impact is significant; rapid rescheduling could prevent network-wide disruptions. 

“If you have an issue on a train network, everything has to stop until you reschedule, at least in that region—and the longer it takes you to come up with a new schedule, the more disruptive the original problem becomes,” Doucet noted, as a train coasted noisily into the platform. 

Robertson, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science, added, “Within the next few generations of quantum technology, the problems we could address will get larger, approaching problems that are intractable on current hardware.” 

Robertson’s computer science background complements the team’s physics expertise.

“Someone else might be able to help me with physics intuition, and then I can help them by suggesting an algorithm we could use to test their idea, or by applying some computational intuition that we could use in designing our quantum solution.”

“Quantum information science is truly interdisciplinary,” adds Deffner, who is also affiliated with the UMBC computer science and electrical engineering department and has master’s level math training.

Beyond trains 

This interdisciplinary, quantum-based approach could eventually optimize logistics, financial portfolios, or drug discovery—fields with complex, random variables. The study, funded through Deffner’s fellowship at the National Quantum Laboratory, involved coding, theoretical modeling, and experiments on real quantum devices—a departure for Deffner’s typically theory-focused research group. 

Working on the Baltimore system was a fun challenge, Deffner says, because the LightRail Link transitions from operating as a train unaffected by traffic outside the city to a tram navigating city streets and stopping at traffic lights inside Baltimore. “Because of its unusual characteristics, it was just a unique problem. And of course, it’s cool to work on a local system,” Deffner says.

By uniting diverse expertise, UMBC’s team is turning quantum noise into a strength, paving the way for efficient solutions to real-world problems.

For over 500 days, the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter 2 (HARP2), a high-tech instrument built by UMBC researchers and students, has been orbiting Earth on NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, capturing stunning data about our planet’s atmosphere, surface, and oceans. UMBC celebrated this milestone with lab tours, a poster session showcasing student research, and talks from the PACE instrument and science teams and university leadership, highlighting the instrument’s success and the hands-on role students play in this NASA mission.

“There is palpable pride on our campus in UMBC’s contributions to the PACE mission,” shares Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research and creative achievement. “Because much of the HARP2 instrument was created with strong involvement from both undergraduate and graduate students, this mission truly combines the best of our research and education missions. HARP2 is clearly a milestone in our 30-plus year partnership with NASA Goddard.’’   

HARP2’s story builds on UMBC’s earlier work with the original HARP, a pint-sized CubeSat launched in 2019 that earned the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ SmallSat Mission of the Year award in 2021. That tiny satellite showed the world how capturing data from many angles could reveal a more complete picture of the atmospheric composition, including the roles of clouds, dust, and smoke. 

HARP2, launched in February 2024, takes HARP’s work further, collecting detailed data from a survey of the entire globe every two days. HARP2 collects in half a day the same amount of data collected by HARP in its entire two-year flight. Researchers have also enhanced data analysis methods, allowing scientists to glean even more accurate and detailed information from the raw data transmitted from space. Alongside PACE’s Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), HARP2 is helping scientists study everything from air quality to climate patterns, and painting a fuller picture of Earth’s systems.

What sets HARP2 apart is its ability to see the atmosphere in 3D-like detail, thanks to its unique “hyper-angular” views. “The instrument is working, it’s producing great data, and the community is starting to use it,” shares Vanderlei Martins, director of the Earth and Space Institute (ESI) at UMBC and the HARP team lead. Scientists across the U.S. and beyond are tapping into HARP2’s data to track pollution, measure cloud droplet properties, and more. Unlike other satellites, HARP2 can distinguish whether particles in the air are smoke, dust, or pollution, offering clues that help us understand air quality and climate impacts.

To ground-truth the data coming from HARP2, some members of the team traveled to Bolivia. They flew drones over high-altitude Lake Titicaca and the Salar de Uyuni salt flat to collect data that complements HARP2’s space-based views. With less atmosphere above them, these sites offer a clearer match to satellite observations, helping refine the science.

An “explosion” of science

Students at UMBC are deeply involved, from building and calibrating HARP2 to digging into its data. Graduate students in the atmospheric physics program work closely with faculty and NASA engineers, even on the most sensitive elements of the project. 

During testing for HARP2, “I was given the opportunity not only to see the initial calibration process, but then to see the team respond to a catastrophic failure, and then come back from it,” recalls Rachel Smith, an atmospheric physics Ph.D. student. “To watch them come together in support of the project and not miss a beat putting it back together was really incredible to see.” Early in her time with the group, Smith got to hold the instrument. “It’s a cool feeling, that I picked up and worked on this thing that’s now in space,” she says.  

Nirandi Jayasinghe, another atmospheric physics Ph.D. student, recalls the earliest data coming in. “We were all here—graduate students, scientists, and engineers—in this very room, doing stuff piece by piece to visualize ‘first light’ from HARP2,” she says. “I don’t think I’ve seen this much synergy between people anywhere else.”

Over time, the team has grown to meet the rising demands of the project. “I’ve seen how the group has gone from just me, Dominik [Cieslak], Roberto [Borda], and a couple of other engineers to now three, four, five grad students at once tackling different and interesting science questions,” shares Brent McBride ’14, physics, Ph.D. ’22, atmospheric physics, who today is an instrument scientist with the ESI. “It’s been an explosion of not only the capacity of the group, but the science that we’re capable of doing.” 

“There’s huge power there”

“Because of its hyper-angular capability, there are things we can see with HARP2 that we have never seen before,” Martins explains. This includes new insights into cloud properties and aerosol types, which are critical for understanding climate and pollution. HARP2 also helps OCI see past atmospheric haze, boosting studies over land and water. 

HARP2 has been rock-steady since launch, with no major issues. It even uses the moon for monthly calibration checks to keep its data sharp. Designed for at least three years but with fuel for potentially a decade, it’s poised to keep delivering. The data is freely available, sparking discoveries worldwide. 

“HARP2 is helping us monitor and understand Earth’s systems and come up with ways to improve life,” Martins says.“We can study everything from fires to red tides and even floods, all the way from natural disasters to the effect of pollution on nature in general. There’s huge power there.” 

As the team celebrates HARP2’s more than 500 days in orbit, its steady stream of data continues to fuel discoveries that deepen our understanding of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. From its roots as a small CubeSat to its role in NASA’s PACE mission, UMBC’s HARP2 showcases the power of collaboration among students, scientists, and NASA, driving science that informs everything from air quality forecasts to climate solutions. With years of potential ahead, HARP2’s impact is only beginning to unfold, inspiring new questions and innovations from UMBC’s campus to the global scientific community.

Meet Tanzila Malik, a senior majoring in gender and women’s studies and minoring in political science and anthropology. Tanzila is an intern with UMBC’s University Communications and Marketing team and a former intern of the Women’s, Gender, and Equity Center.

Q: Tell us about someone in the UMBC community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.

A: It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve had the honor of meeting many people in the UMBC community who have made a lifelong impact on my journey here. In particular, Lauren Allen, director, and Zoe Brown, program coordinator, of UMBC’s Women’s, Gender, and Equity Center (WGEC) consistently supported me in my academic and career goals. They challenged me to move out of my comfort zone and gave me the confidence to pursue incredible opportunities that I’d never thought possible.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?

A: You are never alone at UMBC. There is something/someone for everyone here. From the students to the faculty and staff, UMBC is truly a supportive place to grow and explore new possibilities.

Q: What part of your job do you enjoy the most and why?

A: As an intern at the WGEC, I loved meeting new people and building community. It was fulfilling to be involved in initiatives where I saw firsthand the impact we were making. From hosting panels and discussion circles centered on the experiences of women of color to organizing a campus-wide student activism blog, among many other initiatives, the WGEC takes on. I learned how, even as students, we hold so much power to enact change and make a difference in our communities.

Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place?

A: After applying to and touring several schools in the DMV area, I ultimately committed to UMBC because it felt like a true “community,” something I hadn’t seen anywhere else. As I spent more time on campus, engaging with my professors, taking part in student organizations, and working on campus, it became clear that UMBC was so much more than “just a school.” I’ve met students and staff with an eagerness to learn and a genuine passion for their work, which goes beyond the classroom.

Q: Since you’ve been a part of the UMBC community, how have you found support of your WHY? Tell us about the people who have helped you at UMBC, and why it has made such a difference to you.

A: As a student, I tend to get trapped in the merry-go-round of school. Not stopping to think about my “why.” As a participant and later a leader for the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip through the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, I got to build a deeper connection with Baltimore through learning about various social issues impacting it.

I was part of the 2024 ASB cohort focusing on improving life after prison, and later was a co-leader for the environmental justice and sustainability group. Through meeting with city officials, local nonprofits, and community members, ASB gave me a chance to apply what I was learning in the classroom to the “real world.” This was a really impactful experience for me, as it reminded me of why it is I’m doing what I’m doing.

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Students from across the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) spent the summer diving into research—embarking on new projects or deepening their focus. The college celebrated their work in August with a poster session and networking lunch. Students showcased their research on diverse topics including how artificial intelligence can help K-12 teachers monitor student engagement; how best to model environmental phenomena like wildfires and cloud patterns; and how the sex hormone estradiol affects the behavior of blood platelets, which play an essential role in healthy blood clotting.

Julia Chapman, a rising senior in mechanical engineering who conducted research on a mathematical model that replicates aircraft wing flutter, says she was inspired by the curiosity on display at the poster session. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity to share my summer research and engage in thoughtful conversations,” she says.

“I really enjoyed sharing my work with faculty and fellow students. Since everyone comes from different backgrounds, the variety of questions helped me see my research from multiple perspectives,” says Zahid Hassan Tushar, a Ph.D. candidate in information systems who presented his research studying how machine learning techniques can help predict properties of clouds and aerosols from data gathered by one of NASA’s recently launched Earth-observing satellites. 

Many of the participating students were supported through the inaugural COEIT Student Summer Projects (CSSP) awards, which provided stipends to 10 students—both graduate and undergraduate—across all academic departments of the college. 

The CSSP-funded students were joined by faculty-nominated members of various labs across COEIT and students from REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) programs—National Science Foundation-funded opportunities that bring undergraduates from around the country to UMBC for summer research. The students’ summer research experience also included attending professional development seminars, in which campus leaders shared their own research journeys and COEIT faculty ran skill-development workshops on topics such as making effective presentations, writing papers, and more. 

“The poster session was the culmination of a summer of research exploration for our students, and it was an honor to meet them and learn about their work,” says COEIT Dean Jeanne van Briesen. “Their excitement at the challenges they’d faced and the new ideas they’d generated reminded me of why I love research!”

“It was an honor to celebrate the hard work of these students,” says Vandana Janeja, associate dean for research and faculty development in COEIT. “We look forward to seeing where our students’ curiosity leads us next.” 

Written by John Rennie Short, professor emeritus of public policy, UMBC

On Sept. 3, 2025, China celebrated the 80th anniversary of its victory over Japan by staging a carefully choreographed event in which 26 world leaders were offered a podium view of Beijing’s impressive military might.

The show of strength was deliberate and reignited a debate in Western media over whether we are on the cusp of a China-centric “new world order” to replace the U.S.-dominated international “rules-based order.”

But as someone who writes about geopolitics, I believe we are already there. It might be in flux, and the U.S. still has a big role in it, but a new world order has begun – and as it develops, it will look increasingly different than what it’s replacing.

A brief history of world orders

Global history can be understood as the rise and fall of different orders, defined as a given era’s dominant power relations and attendant institutions and norms.

From 1815 to 1880, the United Kingdom was the undisputed world superpower, with an empire and navy that spanned the globe. The period from 1880 to 1945 was one of imperial rivalries as other countries – largely European and the U.S. – sought to copy Britain’s success and replace its dominance. Supplanting that was the bipolar world of two competing superpowers, the Soviet Union and the U.S., marking the period from 1945 to 1991.

The fall of the Soviet Union was the beginning of a brief period, from 1991 to 2008, of a unipolar world centered on U.S. global dominance, military power and economic might. With the retreat of global communism, the U.S. increased its influence, and that of the international rules-based order it helped establish after 1945, through institutions such as the World Trade Organization, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

It did not last long in the face of a long war on terrorism, the fiasco of the invasion of Iraq, the long occupation of Afghanistan and finally the 2008 global financial crisis that undermined U.S. strength and weakened domestic support for Washington’s role as the world’s policeman.

Toward a multipolar world

In recent years, a new multipolar world has emerged with at least four distinct sources of power.

The U.S. remains central to this world order. It is blessed with a huge territory, a dynamic economy and the strategic luxury of large oceans on its east and west and much smaller powers to its north and south. The U.S. had a global military presence in the previous bipolar and unipolar order. But the cost of this imperial overstretch has prompted Washington to shift the cost burden toward its former allies, leading to a new militarization in Europe and East Asia where most countries now aim to increase military spending.

There is also a change in economic arrangements. In the unipolar order, the U.S. promoted a frictionless free trade arrangement and economic globalization. This resulted in the global shift of manufacturing that in turn created a populist backlash in those countries where manufacturing employment was hollowed out.

Now, economic nationalism is becoming a much more common refrain than free trade. Long the promoter of purportedly open markets, the U.S. is now leading the way in resurrecting tariff barriers to levels that haven’t been seen on the global stage in decades.

The military realignments and growing trade barriers will make it increasingly difficult to assemble durable alliances. In the short term the U.S. can leverage its existing power to its advantage, but over the long term other countries will likely pivot away from too much reliance on the U.S. The American Century that publishing magnate Henry Luce famously described in 1941 has to all intents and purposes come to an end.

China is now a peer competitor to the U.S. in both economic and military power. Increasingly, under the powerful leadership of Xi Jinping, China openly seeks a more Sino-centric world order with institutions and a global arrangement to match. To that end, it is assembling an axis of resistance to a U.S.-dominated world order. Russia, suffering from post-imperial syndrome, is an important member but not an equal partner.

Russian power is limited to establishing a Eurasian sphere of influence across its former Soviet republics and disrupting liberal democracies. But in that, Russia is more of a spoiler than an architect of the new order.

And then there is Europe, facing what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer referred to as a “generational challenge” as the U.S. pivots away from Europe toward the Indo-Pacific just as Russia poses a more serious threat to Europe, especially for its easternmost states.

Europe is remilitarizing after decades of demilitarizing. Sweden and Finland joined NATO in 2023 and 2024, respectively. In the coming decades, Europe could emerge as an independent source of both economic and military power with a different agenda from the U.S. – more keen to confront Russia, less willing to support Israel, and perhaps more willing to engage with China.

But all three power centers – the U.S., China and Europe – will struggle with similar and unique internal challenges.

All of them have sluggish economies and aging populations. The U.S. faces growing inequality and political instability as it shifts from a liberal democracy to competitive authoritarianism. China has an untested military, a looming demographic crisis, a faltering economy and a forthcoming succession struggle.

Finally, Europe is beset with a nationalist populism and growing social welfare costs just as military expenditures are set to increase.

The growth of the Global South

This threefold division is strangely reminiscent of the tripartite global division in George Orwell’s “1984,” where Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia fought a permanent war of shifting alliances.

But Orwell was writing at a time when much of what is now called the Global South was either under the informal or formal control of the superpowers. That is no longer the case in the Global South, especially in the case of the larger countries such as Brazil, India and Indonesia.

The Global South is not yet a coherent bloc, more an informal arrangement of independent actors that tend to hedge between the major powers.

A world in flux

Yet none of this new global reality means that things are now fixed. Indeed, the new world order is in a state of disruptive flux that promises years of growing pains. Both the U.S. and China need allies, and countries in the Global South will continue to hedge between the competing powers.

As such, the world is in for a process of constant jostling as the major powers seek alliances while dealing with domestic pressures. In that messy status quo, many questions remain: Who will be most effective in building durable alliances? Will China manage its internal challenges? Will Europe get its act together? Will Russia continue its disruptive ways? Could a post-Trump U.S., post-Putin Russia and post-Xi China move the world in yet a different direction altogether?

And there is one large question above all others: Can the major powers manage their competition through shared global interests, such as combating climate change, environmental pollution and pandemic threats? Or will mounting conflict in the newly contested areas of the Arctic, cyberspace, outer space and the oceanic realm, and in ongoing geopolitical hot spots provide the trigger for outright conflict?

All world orders come to an end. The hope is the old one is doing so with a whimper rather than a bang.

John Rennie Short, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article and see more than 300 UMBC articles available in The Conversation.

Meet Kayla Logue, a junior with a dance major and a cinematography minor. Kayla is a Linehan Artist Scholar, is an intern for UMBC’s communications and marketing team, and is a Visual and Performing Arts Grit Guide at UMBC. She currently serves as the president of the Dance Council Of Majors; A student organization that works closely with the Department of Dance.

Q: Tell us about someone in the UMBC community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.

A: I have had the pleasure of learning from many incredible professors so far here at UMBC, especially in the Department of Dance. One professor that I have had the pleasure to work closely with and who continuously inspires and supports me is Shaness D. Kemp.

Since my freshman year, I have looked up to Ms. Shaness because she is an incredible artist, teacher, and spirit! I had the opportunity to assist with her work for the Baltimore Dance Project in my sophomore year. Witnessing her rehearsal process and her creative mind inspires me as a dancer every day. As a teacher, professor Kemp always pushes me to be what she knows I am capable of, and she always supports me in achieving my goals.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?

A: UMBC is a place where you can find others who share your goals and are equally passionate.

Q: What part of your job do you enjoy the most and why?

A: As a Visual and Performing Arts Grit Guide, I absolutely love getting to share my passion for UMBC and its community! So far, I have truly found incredible opportunities in my time here, as well as a beloved home away from home with the family I have in this community.

Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place?

A: I came to UMBC because of the opportunities it presented. I loved the Dance Department and its faculty, I would be able to both dance and continue my passions for visual art, and I was still close to home.

Q: Since you’ve been a part of the UMBC community, how have you found support of your WHY? Tell us about the people who have helped you at UMBC, and why it has made such a difference to you.

A: The UMBC community has helped me gain confidence in all my endeavors. I have met so many fellow Retrievers who inspire me with their passion and drive, and I have such incredible support from my professors who want to see me succeed. The community here has helped me to believe in myself more than anything.

Q: Are you involved in any campus organizations? Tell us about what you love about them!

A: I currently serve as the president for UMBC’s Dance Council of Majors. I am incredibly honored to be in this leadership position because we foster community engagement amongst those who love to move and groove.

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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

“Support” is one of the most frequently used words when UMBC students reflect on their internship experiences on and off campus. From resources offered by the Career Center, to guidance from professors, and even sometimes from peers who wind up working side-by-side, UMBC students depend on university support and the many shapes it takes.  

This summer, hundreds of Retrievers built upon the foundational knowledge they learned in the classroom and applied it to hands-on, real-world learning through internships. From getting front seat roles in bridge engineering and analyzing cyber threats to using inspiration drawn from campus, these UMBC students had plenty to write about for their “What I Did with My Summer Vacation” essays. 

The science of sticking together 

Mustafa Akpinar, a senior information systems major; Alek Read, a senior environmental science major; and Ty Allen, a junior mechanical engineering major, honed technical expertise, built teamwork and communication skills, and forged connections with peers and professionals on the Baltimore/D.C. biotech scene working at AstraZeneca. 

Akpinar worked as a cyber threat intelligence and threat detection intern, a position that closely aligned with his career trajectory. “This internship is a perfect fit for both my academic path and long-term career goals,” Akpinar says, noting how the role builds on his data communications and networks and database design courses.

Read and Allen also used the summer to further their professional goals. Read contributed to sustainability efforts at AstraZeneca’s Frederick Manufacturing Center as an environmental health safety intern and Allen served as a site operations intern, applying his engineering skills to edit technical drawings in AutoCAD. 

Building bridges

As all of Baltimore and most of the country recalls, Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was struck by a cargo ship and collapsed in March of 2024. The impacts of this catastrophe are still felt throughout the region with travel complications, economic hardships, and more. Through a partnership between the Maryland Transportation Authority and the Maryland Higher Education Commission, three Retrievers and six other Maryland-based students had the chance to join the Key Bridge Rebuild Internship Program. 

Emily DiMarzio, a junior studying environmental science and geography, and Cristian Mena and William McConnell, both seniors studying mechanical engineering, all explored their individual areas of interest while actively helping to rebuild in their own community.

“It hurt when the bridge went down,” says McConnell, who grew up in Baltimore and now lives with his wife and three kids in Catonsville. “You could practically see it from our neighborhood, and now see that it is missing. So when the opportunity came along to apply for this internship, I jumped on it.” 

Bustling Baltimore

The UMBC Career and Internship Fair is a first foot in the door for many UMBC students seeking to make networking connections. This was precisely the case for Wonder Akpabio, a junior computer science major, who connected with a recruiter from T. Rowe Price who helped guide her through the interview process.

With a massive network of UMBC alumni, T. Rowe Price is already a well-known investment management firm with Retrievers, with the added bonus of being headquartered in Baltimore. Gabriel Farmer, another junior computer science major, was impressed with the outreach efforts the company did with UMBC, like sending recruiters to events and hosting online programming. 

“Anytime you ask a question, people are ready to help,” Farmer says. “It’s been a very good experience, and T. Rowe Price is definitely a place I could see myself continuing to work at.”

Connections across campus

UMBC is far from a sleepy campus in the summer, with hundreds of research, internship, and student-employment opportunities available. So, while others traveled far and wide to secure an internship in their area of interest, some Retrievers saw the home-field advantage right in front of them. 

Giovanna Orfali, a visual arts senior from São Paulo, Brazil, spent this summer behind the camera as a digital content intern at both the Maryland Center for History and Culture and UMBC’s event and conference services. Humanities Scholar Kendal Howell stepped off the plane after studying business management abroad in France this past spring and into the office as an intern at UMBC’s Division of Student Affairs for their new academic partnerships and high-impact experiences unit.

Second-year gerontology doctoral student Claire McDonald also had the opportunity to conduct new research, working with Rowena Winkler, the new assistant director for graduate student career development at the UMBC Career Center, who was seeking graduate students to conduct a 10-week qualitative research project. Caleb Ruck ’22, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, and M.A. ’24, intercultural communication, continued his work becoming the first year-long graduate assistant for the Center for Social Justice Dialogue.

A numbers game

With so many resources available to help students land their dream internship, it’s not surprising to see the statistics of success—85 percent of recent alumni engaged in applied learning like internships, research, service-learning, or leadership during their time at UMBC. Thanks to the work they’re putting into their futures as a student, 93 percent graduate with firm plans for employment or graduate school within six months of graduation.

“I’m continually inspired by the way our students engage in applied learning to launch their careers,” says Marykate Conroy, associate director of internships and employment. “UMBC students are entering the workforce prepared and in demand.”

UMBC’s Career Center offers a comprehensive suite of resources including SteppingBlocks to explore alumni career paths and outcomes, UMBC Careers Unleashed Podcast for stories and insights, the Internship and Research Success Practicum course to complement student work experiences, Handshake for employer connections, and the UMBC Career Connectors network of faculty and staff linking the classroom to careers.

The annual Career and Internship Fair will be held on Wednesday, September 17, from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the Retriever Activity Center. “Get engaged, ask the big questions, push yourself to achieve your goals, and influence the world. The UMBC community will be right there with you along your journey,” recommends Tanzila Malik ’26, women’s studies, who spent two years interning with the Women’s, Gender, and Equity Center.

Read more about where internships took Retrievers this summer.