On February 19, Mark Baskin (SUNY-Albany) and Paula Pickering (College of William and Mary) presented their research on local governance in the Balkans both to policymakers at the US Department of State and to an audience of individuals working on a variety of development projects in the Balkans and around the world at IREX. In 2007-2008, Baskin and Pickering traveled to Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, and Macedonia as IREX Fellows, funded by the US Department of State Title VIII Program. During their careers, both scholars have spent time working with various international organizations in the field and countless hours as academics doing field research, developing a foundational understanding of the history and culture of the region. “Into the Weeds: Obstacles to Good Governance in the Balkans” analyzed local governance, decentralization, and police reform as indicators of the effectiveness of international actors in the region. The video of their IREX presentation can be accessed in eight parts on www.youtube.com/irexdc [9].