SAI Global Leadership Certificate Journal

Conferences and Seminars:

1. Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI) Annual Conference – 20

January

I went to the afternoon portion of the conference, which consisted of three

speakers discussing U.S. foreign policy: James Goldgeier, Maya Kandel, and

Alissa Johannsen Rubin. Goldgeier’s talk gave an overview of each president’s

foreign policy approach since the end of the Cold War, as well as identifying

foreign policy-related factors in the presidential candidates. The most

interesting part of his talk was how the fall of communism changed the United

States party structure. He said that communism was the “glue” of the

Republican party—that it had been such an integral part of their mission

throughout the 20​th​ century, that without it they began to divide and lost a

common focus. Kandel discussed the relative decline of the U.S. as a global

force and President Obama’s successes and failures in foreign policy. She

described the “Obama Paradox” of not getting credit for inaction, because his

support of limiting use of force involves not taking action as opposed to the

clear actions of Bush’s term in office. Kandel identified Obama’s greatest

foreign policy moves as improving relations with Iran and Cuba, but said that

the rise of ISIS signaled a failure in countering terrorism. Finally, Rubin talked
 about the U.S.’s involvement in the Middle East and the ongoing power

struggles.

2. AUP Speaker Ed Lozansky, President of American University in Moscow – 14

March

This discussion was about U.S.-Russian relations from the perspective of a

Russian nuclear physicist who was forced to leave the Soviet Union before its fall.

Lozansky emphasized that since NATO expanded into Eastern Europe, against its

promise to Russia, tensions have risen again to the level of a “new Cold War.” He

said that this is detrimental to the U.S.’s objectives, because Russia could be an

ally in the war on terror. He compared the U.S. and Russia to a professor and

student, respectively, explaining that just as a student’s failure can be partially

attributed to a professor, Russia’s lack of a friendly alliance can be pegged on the

U.S. to an extent.

Community Service Projects:

Observations (Travel/Other):

1. Madrid, Spain

When I visited Madrid for a weekend, I walked past the City Hall. Amongst a

multitude of Spanish flags, there was a large banner hung front and center on

the buildings, proclaiming “Refugees Welcome” in large black letters. I was

not aware of Spain’s involvement in the refugee crisis, but seeing how

accepting the country is made me wonder why other countries are not
 following Spain’s lead—I have not seen any displays of welcome for refugees

in France or anywhere else I have visited.

2. Belfast, Northern Ireland

On my spring break, I spent about a day and a half in Belfast. Since Belfast is a

relatively small city, I thought a day would be enough, but that turned out not

to be the case. One of the things I did was visit the Ulster Museum, which

contained a large exhibit on the Troubles, a recent period of violence and

unrest in Northern Ireland in the 20​th​ century. I had heard about it before, but

I never knew any specifics. The exhibit was really eye-opening and I learned a

lot about the history. Later on, my friend and I were walking around the city in

the evening, around 7 PM, and we couldn’t help but notice that the city was

largely deserted. Almost all of the stores in the central city were closed by 6 or

7 PM, and while we were there during the week, we looked at the hours in a

few stores and most closed earlier than normal on weekends as well. Some

restaurants were open, but there were very few people on the streets overall.

I wondered if the relative emptiness of the city is a remnant of the unsafe

period that ended not long ago. Overall, Belfast was a cool city, but the whole

time I was there I had a feeling that despite all its modern amenities the city

as a whole was not quite caught up to the rest of modern society.