Pablo “Christian” Soenen is a student at The University of Texas at Austin, majoring in economics, government, and Plan II honors. His primary academic interests involve international security and public policy. Soenen is interested in finding effective solutions to the expansive problems created by organized crime in Mexico and Central America, particularly where the state has played a role in perpetuating conflict. He has worked with an Austin-based immigration attorney over several years on asylum cases. He also spent his freshman year researching violent drug trafficking organizations and gangs in Baja California, other transnational criminal groups, as well as migration. At UT, he participated in the Texas Intelligence Academy and is a Clements Center Undergraduate Fellow and a member of the Tejas Club.