Paul Costello
Senior Program Manager, GMF Cities
My Areas of Expertise:
Paul Costello is a Berlin-based senior program manager for GMF Cities. He leads the team’s City Directors of International Affairs (CDIA) Network and contributes to GMF Cities’ democracy, disinformation, migration, and Ukraine projects.
Costello has a background in public policy and prior work experience in sustainability and public diplomacy programs. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and a bachelor’s degree in political science from McGill University in Montreal.
Featured Work
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March 24, 2025
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August 29, 2024
Disinformation is a global challenge with profound impacts on cities. ...
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May 24, 2024
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March 7, 2024
Disinformation is at the top of national and global agendas. Cities are also increasingly paying attention to this, and are well-positioned to respond...
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November 21, 2023
The destruction caused by Russia’s war of aggression has created an enormous demand for affordable housing in Ukraine. Existing models, including the...
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October 12, 2023
Why does aid to Ukraine matter? In our latest quick reads, our experts weigh in as the United States and other countries debate continuing supporting...
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August 9, 2023
This piece was originally published on the London School of Economics' European Politics and Policy Program blog and is reproduced here with the...
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January 6, 2023
GMF experts at the start of last year warily watched the growing Russian threat to Ukraine. “A full-scale Russian invasion has not been as salient a...
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August 26, 2021
The collapse of the Afghan government and the return to power of the Taliban has left many individuals and families in danger, fearing for their...
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May 5, 2021
European and North American Cities have deep, historic, and multifaceted ties with China....
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July 27, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic poses an unprecedented challenge to the resilience of societies and highlights fundamental flaws in social, economic, and...
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October 28, 2019
The Urban and Regional Policy Program (URP) of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), in collaboration with the Urban Institute,...
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April 25, 2019
A heightened election season is starting with a jolt this weekend in Spain....
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February 6, 2019
Building more inclusive, sustainable, and globally engaged communities and cities can be done in many different and complementary ways....
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January 29, 2018
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Following the first round of the presidential election in France, over half of the electorate that did not vote for Macron or Le Pen will now have to...
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Since 2008, over half of the global population lives in cities....
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How often do policymakers really listen to affected stakeholders when designing and implementing policies? Policies are often directed in a top-down...
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In seeking to prevent an unconstitutional independence referendum in Catalonia on Sunday, October 1, the Spanish government has not only greatly...
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Recent elections in Italy have resulted in anti-establishment politicians winning control of city governments throughout the country....