Melanie García Flores

Melanie is a Graduate Professional in UNIDIR’s Conventional Arms and Ammunition Programme. Her areas of expertise and research interests include armed conflicts, international organized crime, the analysis of masculinities within drug trafficking, firearms trafficking and violence. 

Melanie holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the Universidad de las Américas Puebla and a Master in Law, Economics and Management in International Security Politics from the Université Catholique de Lille. Her master’s thesis focused on the power dynamics and symbolic domination that contribute to the construction of masculinity and national identity-glorifying military symbols as a means for justifying and legitimizing violence within drug trafficking in Mexico. 

Before joining UNIDIR, Melanie worked as an intern at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna and held various positions in government institutions in Mexico, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Puebla State Congress. She has recently co-written a paper on NATO Multi-Domain Operations at the request of the British Army to be presented to NATO member states in October 2024. 

Melanie speaks Spanish, English, French, basic Italian, and is learning German.