Marcus Marktanner is Associate Professor of Economics and International Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University. He holds a joint appointment at the Department of Economics, Finance, and Quantitative Analysis and the PhD Program in International Conflict Management. He received his PhD from the Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany in 1997. In his doctoral thesis he examined the political economy of the economic transformation process of former socialist economies. Before joining the faculty of Kennesaw State University in June 2011, he held teaching and research positions in Lebanon, the US, and Germany. His research focuses on comparative economics, economic development, and conflict economics. He has consulted the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the World Food Program (WFP). He also regularly contributes to the work of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation as an author and speaker on the topic of the Social Market Economy.