What foreign policymakers can learn from racial justice advocates
I’ve found it difficult to study international affairs while America is ripping at the seams.
Reading foreign policy think pieces and watching diplomacy webinars seem to inevitably end with my mind drifting to headlines that hit much closer to home. Like so many young people, the Trump years have left me more politically active, as I’ve come to understand the importance of my dissenting voice in a Zoom town hall and the power of my physical body in a street demonstration
.
I’ve tried to strike a balance between studying global relations and finding my place in local advocacy. But the Jan. 6 attack on American democracy stirred something inside me that I’ve kept at bay for a while now: doubt in my career path. As a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow, I’ve committed to joining the U.S. Foreign Service after graduation. Becoming an American diplomat is something I’ve dreamed about and wo