From July 28th to August 2nd the newest cohort of Fellows, the IRF ’17s, took an insider’s tour of the Washington foreign policy establishment.  Chaperoning were IRF Director David Rezelman, Bernie McMahon, and Lisa Marie Priddy.  On Monday the 29th, our first meeting was with former State Department Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Agency for International Development contractor, and U.S. Congressman Glenn Nye.  The ’17s wide-ranging discussion with Nye set the stage for the week that was to follow.

Glenn Nye in a conference room at Palantir Technologies overlooking the U.S. Capitol.

That afternoon we visited the non-governmental organization (NGO) Project Hope.  In their words, “Project HOPE delivers essential medicines and supplies, health expertise and medical training to respond to disaster, prevent disease, promote wellness and save lives around the globe.”  The IR Fellows met with several senior officials of the organization, including President John Howe.  Dinner that night was genuine Virginia Chinese “hot pot” cuisine at the Mala Tang restaurant.

’17s Alix Galumbeck, Jaden Baum, and Hallie Griffiths, at Mala Tang.

The following morning we took public tours of the Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The IRFs ’17s with Ms. Priddy in front of the U.S. Capitol.

The ’17s in front of the statue of John Marshall at the U.S. Supreme Court.

This was followed by an afternoon exploration of the Sackler and Freer National Museum of Asian Art.  After a period for detailed examination, each Fellow presented to the rest of the group what they believed were the most important aspects of their section of the collection.

Some intellectual heavy-lifting at the Sackler Freer Gallery.

After that, we initiated the ’17 tradition of rising at least one carousel during each of our trips (in this case on the Washington Mall).

Luke Cromwell barely hanging on.

Tuesday evening concluded with a visit to the Netherlands Carillon and Arlington National Cemetery.  The following morning we visited the main offices of the Washington Post to meet with one of its reporters: Greg Jaffe.  In the afternoon we toured of the old headquarters of the American Red Cross, followed by a visit to their state-of-the-art Disaster Operations Center.

The group outside the American Red Cross’s Disaster Operations Center.

Thursday morning we visited with several employees and volunteers at the national Peace Corps headquarters.  Our visit to the Peace Corps was one of the absolute highlights of the numerous meetings during our week in Washington.  The students were blown away by the depth of immersion Peace Corps volunteers achieve in other cultures, and more than one afterwards expressed in interest in one day serving in the Peace Corps themselves!  In the afternoon we met with several senior employees at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a little-known U.S. Government foreign aid agency.  Dinner that evening was at the venerable Old Europe restaurant.

Chris Kazakis and Alix Galumbeck at Old Europe.

We spent the morning of our last day in Washington visiting Stacy Mitchell, a senior attorney at the Department of Justice.  Our trip was capped off by a visit to the home of a former senior official in the Intelligence Community.

The best parts of the whole trip, however, were the evening conversations when we would reflect on the previous day and preview the next.  We began the trip as three teachers and six students.  By the end, we were a cohesive group.

The IRF ’17s (left to right): Chris Kazakis, Alix Galumbeck, Jaden Baum, Albert Einstein, Nico Moscoso, Hallie Griffiths, and Luke Cromwell.

On May 21, 2013, the Center for Civic and Global Leadership (CCGL) held its First Annual Fellows Symposium.  Following introductory remarks by CCGL Director Sean Wetmore and each of the three program directors, Howard Hoege of the Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy at the University of Virginia delivered the Keynote Address.  Following this, attendees adjourned to the refectory to view the Symposium presentations of each Fellow.

The presentations created by the IR Fellows Class of 2016 represented months of work.  It was by no means a demonstration of all we had done throughout the course of the year; instead, it was a presentation by each individual Fellow illustrating some of the research they had done on a particular subject of interest.

Thomas Ferguson’s presentation was entitled “Economic and Social Development in Malawi”:

Thomas Ferguson (IRF ’16) presenting at First Annual CCGL Symposium, May 2013.

In addition to his work on this subject, Thomas led discussions during the course of the year on the following articles from the journal Foreign Affairs:

• Brimley and Ratner, “Smart Shift: A Response to ‘The Problem of the Pivot'”;
• Dmitriev and Treisman, “The Other Russia”;
• Drezner, “Rebooting Republican Foreign Policy”;
• King, “The Scottish Play”;
• Mehta, “How India Stumbled”;
• Morse, “Cleaning Up Coal”;
• Ross, “The Problem with the Pivot”; and
• Vandewalle, “After Qaddafi.”

This was all in addition to their regular coursework.  Each IR Fellow maintained excellent grades during the course of his or her ninth grade and participated in other aspects of school life as well.  Thomas, for example, won the ninth grade English award.

Sophie Kidd’s presentation was entitled “Education for Girls and Women in Afghanistan and Pakistan”:

Sophie Kidd (IRF ’16) presenting at First Annual CCGL Symposium, May 2013.

In addition to her work on this subject, Sophie led discussions during the course of the year on the following articles from the journal Foreign Affairs:

• Altman, “The Fall and Rise of the West”;
• Ash, “The Crisis in Europe”;
• Baram, “Deterrence Lessons from Iraq”;
• Friedburg, “Bucking Beijing”;
• Gershenfeld, “How to Make It in America”;
• Kenworthy, “It’s Hard to Make It in America”;
• Lomborg, “Environmental Alarmism, Then and Now”; and
• Morgan, “America’s Misguided Approach to Social Welfare.”

This was all in addition to their regular coursework.  Each IR Fellow maintained excellent grades during the course of his or her ninth grade and participated in other aspects of school life as well.  Sophie, for example, won the ninth grade theater award.

Pablo Vazquez’s presentation was entitled “The Effect of China’s Economic Growth on the United States”:

Pablo Vazquez (IRF ’16) presenting at First Annual CCGL Symposium, May 2013.

In addition to his work on this subject, Pablo led discussions during the course of the year on the following articles from the journal Foreign Affairs:

• Allison, “The Cuban Missile Crisis at 50”;
• Benard, “How to Succeed in Business”;
• Camín and Casteñeda, “Mexico’s Age of Agreement”;
• Campbell, “America the Undertaxed”;
• Caverley and Kapstein, “Arms Away”;
• Li, “The Life of the Party”;
• Nathan and Allison, “The Cuban Missile Crisis at 50”;
• Norquist and Campbell, “Are Taxes Too Damn High”?”;
• Sharma, “Broken BRICs”?; and
• Zakaria, “Can America Be Fixed?”

This was all in addition to their regular coursework.  Each IR Fellow maintained excellent grades during the course of his or her ninth grade and participated in other aspects of school life as well.  Pablo, for example, won the highest award given to ninth graders: the Massey Award.

Hannah Wheaton’s presentation was entitled “Kurds and a Possible ‘Kurdistan'”:

Hannah Wheaton (IRF ’16) presenting at First Annual CCGL Symposium, May 2013.

In addition to her work on this subject, Hannah led discussions during the course of the year on the following articles from the journal Foreign Affairs:

• Bergsten, “Why the Euro Will Survive”;
• Gustafson, “Putin’s Petroleum Problem”;
• Hiltermann, “Revenge of the Kurds”;
• Kahl and Walz, “Iran and the Bomb”;
• Mallaby, “Europe’s Optional Catastrophe”;
• Teppermann, “Barak’s Last Battle” and “Turkey’s Moment”; and
• Waltz, “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb.”

This was all in addition to their regular coursework.  Each IR Fellow maintained excellent grades during the course of his or her ninth grade and participated in other aspects of school life as well.  Hannah, for example, had recently soloed during a choral presentation.

Jessica Williams’ presentation was entitled “Stable and Democratic Political Development in Egypt”:

Jessica Williams (IRF ’16) presenting at First Annual CCGL Symposium, May 2013.

In addition to her work on this subject, Jessica led discussions during the course of the year on the following articles from the journal Foreign Affairs:

• Berman, “The Promise of the Arab Spring”;
• Hadley and Podesta, “The Right Way Out of Afghanistan”;
• Gordon, “Trading Up in Asia”;
• Jones, “The Mirage of the Arab Spring”;
• MacKenzie, “Let Women Fight”;
• Nathan and Scobell, “How China Sees America”;
• Sacks, “God’s Politics”; and
• Neumann, Hadley, and Podesta, “Afghan Endgame.”

This was all in addition to their regular coursework.  Each IR Fellow maintained excellent grades during the course of his or her ninth grade and participated in other aspects of school life as well.  Jessica, for example, won the ninth grade athletics award.

Cyberwarfare Presentation

In April the IR Fellows met with Mr. Jude Klena to discuss cyberwarfare.  Mr. Klena is a civilian attorney with the Navy (and a reserve Navy JAG) with experience in cyberwarfare and the law, but his most impressive credential is being the parent of Sarah Klena (’14).

Mr. Jude Klena with the IRF ’16s, April 2013.

Dr. Rezelman and Sarah Klena (’14) at the Pentagon, July 2013.

Field Day 2013

Despite some challenging weather, on May 4th the IR Fellows set up a booth at Field Day. Our purpose was to educate the NA community about our program and perhaps interest some younger Bulldogs with a variety of world-related arts and crafts activities. The weather didn’t make it easy, but we still had fun.

Hannah Wheaton and Jessica Williams (IRF ’16s) set up our booth.

The IR Fellows brave the elements.

Working with some fellow Bulldogs.

We enjoyed listening to Carbon Jam, an NA band fronted by a past veteran of the International Relations class and club: Haley Bauser (’12).

We enjoyed listening to the music of Carbon Jam (led by former IR student and International Relations Club president Haley Bauser, NA ’12).

The highlight of our February was the inspirational visit to Norfolk Academy by Julius Johnson.  Dr. Rezelman and Ms. Massey first met Mr. Johnson during their December visit to the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC), where Mr. Johnson serves as the Afghanistan Field Training Coordinator for the U.S. Department of State.  On February 15th Mr. Johnson spoke about his work with the State Department, and indeed his life’s work: to make the world a better place.

Mr. Johnson listens to a student question, February 15, 2013.

Mr. Johnson shared with the Fellows an amazing variety of experiences he has had around the world, from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to the Congo.  He spoke movingly about the difficulties, and the joys, of international development work.  By the end of his talk, and the Q&A and that followed, students were inspired to make the world a more peaceful and just place.

Mr. Johnson and the Fellows, February 15, 2013.

As a follow-up to our January discussion of the Foreign Affairs article “Let Women Fight,” on February 20th Major Meghan Cumpston, U.S. Army, Skyped in with the IR Fellows to continue our discussion of women in combat.  A friend of Mr. McMahon’s, MAJ Cumpston is a veteran of two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.  Following completion of her master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, MAJ Cumpston will be teaching International Relations at the U.S. Military Academy, so she was ideally suited to address the issue from both a personal and an academic point of view.  Students left the discussion not only with a better understanding of women in combat, but also with another potential personal role model.

Following an exhaustingly rigorous application process, which included an interview and multiple applicant essays, on March 11 the Center for Civic and Global Leadership was proud to announce the International Relations Fellows Class of 2017!  Congratulations to the following six newly-minted IRFs:

• Jaden Baum,
• Luke Cromwell,
• Alix Galumbeck,
• Hallie Griffiths,
• Chris Kazakis, and
• Nico Moscoso.

On March 14, Angela Cyrus (CAPT, USN [ret.]) returned to Norfolk Academy to speak to the Fellows about leadership.  Dr. Cyrus is the president of the Cyrus Group, an organization committed to “developing powerful leaders who have skill-based competence to lead in a more complex, knowledge driven market and self confidence to authentically lead others to achieve extraordinary results.”  Formerly director of admissions at the United States Naval Academy, Dr. Cyrus remains on the faculty at Annapolis within the Leadership, Law, and Ethics Department.  She is also on the faculty of the Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions, but at Norfolk Academy she remains best known as the proud parent of T.J. (’07) and Jordan (’09).

Dr. Cyrus addressed the Fellows as the future leaders of America.  The group worked an exercise together where they learned that in order to get the right answers one first has to ask the right questions.  Having also spoken to the Chesapeake Bay Fellows (’15) last year, we hope Dr. Cyrus will be able to return to Norfolk Academy every year to speak to each new class of Fellows!

Dr. Cyrus and the Fellows, March 14, 2013.

The IRFs also participated, along with the Global Health Fellows and the Chesapeake Bay Fellows, in a variety of other leadership exercises.  In preparation for a group discussion, all of the Fellows took the HumanMetrics Jung Typology Test (similar to the Myers-Briggs test).  The Fellows then discussed on February 5 with Mr. Kevin Denson the implications of everyone’s personality types for their personal leadership style.

The IR Fellows participating in a Leadership Exercise, February 5, 2013

On March 20 all of the Fellows convened to participate in a group discussion, led by CCGL Director Mr. Sean Wetmore, of Rushworth Kidder’s book Moral Courage.  A few weeks later, on April 4, NA Spanish teacher Mr. Bernie McMahon led a group discussion of Elbert Hubbard’s class short story “A Message to Garcia.”  The combined take-away from the readings and discussions: take the initiative to do the right thing!

The Fellows discuss “A Message to Garcia” with Mr. McMahon, April 4, 2013

Finally, as always, we continued our routine but vital group discussions of Foreign Affairs articles.  Since the last blog entry we have addressed

• Héctor Aguilar Camín and Jorge G. Casteñeda, “Mexico’s Age of Agreement”  (Pablo);
• Neil Gershenfeld, “How to Make Almost Anything”  (Sophie);
• Thane Gustafson, “Putin’s Petroleum Problem”  (Hannah);
• Joost R. Hiltermann, “Revenge of the Kurds”  (Hannah);
• Lane Kenworthy, “It’s Hard to Make It in America”  (Sophie);
• Ronald E. Neumann; Stephen Hadley and John Podesta, “Afghan Endgame” (Jessica);
• Linda Robinson, “The Future of Special Operations”
  (Mr. McMahon);
• Robert S. Ross, “The Problem With the Pivot”  (Thomas);
• Jonathan Sacks, “God’s Politics”  (Jessica); and
• Dirk Vandewalle, “After Qaddafi”  (Thomas).

Next up: Pablo will lead a discussion of the economic and political futures of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, a.k.a. the “Broken BRICs”!

The International Relations Fellows (IRFs) have had a very full January!  On Saturday, January 5th, Pablo and Dr. Rezelman answered questions about the program (along with representatives from the other CCGL programs) at Norfolk Academy’s annual admissions “Open House.”

Norfolk Academy Open House (January 2013)

Tuesday evening, January 8th, several of the IRFs joined Dr. Rezelman and Mr. McMahon in attending a World Affairs Council dinner and talk at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott.  Professor Tim Naftali’s talk was entitled “From the Cuban Missile Crisis to Iran: Confronting the Nuclear Threat.”  As Thomas observed, “Dr. Naftali drew a striking comparison of Cuba and Iran [regarding] lessons learned from the Cuban Missile Crisis [and how they] can help our situation in Iran today.”  Jessica was struck by the important “role of ‘red lines’ and government secrecy when dealing with nuclear weapons.”

On Thursday, January 10th, each of the IRFs spoke to the entire eighth grade to explain to next year’s possible applicants why they might wish to apply to a CCGL program.  The IRFs are very excited about being joined by a second group of Fellows starting this August, and they were determined to convince “the best of the best” to apply to our program (or to one of our sister CCGL programs).  As Jessica observed, “I was surprised that a whole year had gone by since I was an eighth grader first listening to the introductions to the programs . . .  I hope I can set a good example for Fellows to come and I can’t wait to see who will apply and who will ‘join the gang.’ ”

On Wednesday, January 16th, the IRFs joined the Global Health Fellows (GHFs) to hear a presentation from Ms. Caryn Cobb (’11) about traditional Chinese medicine.  Caryn’s recent travels in China made for some fascinating cultural insights!  (For more information on Caryn’s visit, visit the Global Health Fellows blog.)

Ms. Cobb, Ms. Massey, the GHFs, and the IRFs.

January also saw us make the final preparations for our presentation during the World Affairs Council’s “Great Decisions” talk regarding China in Africa.  Though the event (scheduled for Saturday, January 26th) was canceled due to weather, we look forward to its rescheduling.

Amid all this activity, the vital routine of reading and discussing articles from Foreign Affairs continued.  Though we were unable to complete as many articles as we usually do in a month, we discussed (or will discuss tomorrow)

• Daniel Byman and Natan Sachs, “The Rise of Settler Terrorism”  (Jessica)
• Jonathan Caverley and Ethan B. Kapstein, “Arms Away” (Pablo)
• Aaron L. Friedberg, “Bucking Beijing” (Sophie)
• Colin H. Kahl; Kenneth N. Waltz, “Iran and the Bomb” (Hannah)
• Megan H. MacKenzie, “Let Women Fight” (Jessica)
• Andrew J. Nathan and Andrew Scobell, “How China Sees America” (Jessica)

On Tuesday, January 29th, the Fellows were honored to be joined in their discussion of the two articles relating to China by Mr. Beau Walker (’59) and Capt. George B. Powell (’57, USN [ret.]).  Tomorrow many of the IRFs will attend Professor Julie Nelson Davis’s talk on Norfolk Academy’s collection of Japanese art prints.  Dr. Davis’s Powell Family lecture is entitled “Magnificent Impressions: Japanese Prints from the George Powell Collection in Context.”  This will be a delightful conclusion to the process begun in December when the IRFs received a personal introduction to the collection from Dr. Leslie Hennessey.

Professor Davis and Mr. Powell

Let’s hope February is as busy as January . . . but maybe a bit warmer!

Following their August “tour of the Washington foreign policy establishment” (see below), the inaugural cohort of International Relations Fellows (IRFs) had a great first semester of their four-year experience!  Some highlights:

Foreign Affairs

In September the IRFs began what will remain one of our intellectual staples: reading the journal Foreign Affairs together.  The Fellows read the July-August issue as part of their summer reading, so we were primed and ready to go with discussions as soon as the school year began.  Each IRF reads the entirety of each issue, and then we discuss most of the articles together during regular (once or twice a week) lunch-and-Tutor Bell meetings.  The Fellows pick two articles from each issue that they find particularly interesting.  They then look a bit more deeply into that subject, get some background information on its author, and then lead our group discussion of the article.  The process can be daunting at first, but the IRFs have already come a long way in terms of adjusting to the jargon and keeping pace with the content.  By the time they graduate, after keeping pace with Foreign Affairs for four years, the Fellows will be up to speed on the most important contemporary foreign policy debates.

The articles the IRFs have led group discussions about thus far:

• Graham Allison, “The Cuban Missile Crisis at 50”  (Pablo)
• Timothy Garton Ash, “The Crisis of Europe”  (Sophie)
• Amatzia Baram, “Deterrence Lessons From Iraq”  (Sophie)
• Alexander Benard, “How to Succeed in Business”  (Pablo)
• C. Fred Bergsten, “Why the Euro Will Survive”  (Hannah)
• Andrea Louise Campbell, “America the Undertaxed”  (Pablo)
• Mikhail Dmitriev and Daniel Treisman, “The Other Russia”  (Thomas)
• Bernard K. Gordon, “Trading Up in Asia”  (Jessica)
• Stephen Hadley and John Podesta, “The Right Way Out of Afghanistan”  (Jessica)
• Charles King, “The Scottish Play”  (Thomas)
• Bjørn Lomborg, “Environmental Alarmism, Then and Now”  (Sophie)
• Sebastian Mallaby, “Europe’s Optional Catastrophe”  (Hannah)
• Pratap Bhanu Mehta, “How India Stumbled”  (Thomas)
• Richard K. Morse, “Cleaning Up Coal”  (Thomas)
• Kenneth N. Waltz, “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb”  (Hannah)

Community Service with the World Affairs Council

The Fellows also fulfilled their ninth grade community service in the fall by visiting once a week the offices of the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads (WACGHR).  They helped out WACGHR’s Executive Director, Gabrielle Blake, with some routine office work, and in the process they gained a better understanding of all that goes into running a small, foreign policy-related non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO).  The Fellows spent most of their time, however, preparing to assist the WACGHR with a presentation in their Great Decisions Speaker Series.  On Saturday, January 26th, from 10:00 am to noon, Dr. Philip Roessler will be speaking about China’s growing political and economic ties with Africa.  The IRFs will be assisting Dr. Roessler and the WACGHR by providing an informational trifold on the subject to be displayed in the lobby that morning.  The Fellows will also be speaking briefly to the audience about what they concluded from their study of the subject.  (For more information on this event, and other WACGHR events, visit their web site at http://www.hrwac.org.)

Other Events

The Fellows have also had the chance to attend a variety of other international relations and leadership-related events.  In September, for example, several IRFs attended a WACGHR talk held at Norfolk Academy, where the Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, Dr. Christopher Preble, spoke to an audience of over a hundred about the future of the U.S. nuclear triad.  Dr. Preble was an old friend of the IRFs, having hosted them in his office last August when the Fellows visited the Cato Institute (see below).

In November the IR Fellows joined the Chesapeake Bay Fellows and the Global Health Fellows in attending the Center for Civic and Global Leadership’s quarterly leadership talk.  Lawyer, activist, and friend of Norfolk Academy, Jay Leutze, spoke to the Fellows about the environmental stewardship work in North Carolina described in his book Stand Up the Mountain.  As Ms. Massey put it in her Global Health Fellows blog, “[Leutze’s] story of standing up and fighting against an injustice left everyone present feeling empowered that they themselves can become agents of real change.”

In December the Fellows received a personal tour of George Powell’s (’57) Japanese woodblock print collection on display in the Perrel Art Gallery.  The curator of the display, Dr. Leslie Hennessey, gave the IRFs the “white-glove treatment” as they were able to personally handle up close several of these art treasures.  In the process the students gained a greater appreciation of Japanese art and of the cultural ramifications of the massive political and economic changes that Japan underwent in the late 19th century.

Planning continues regarding future IRF trips.  In December David Rezelman (Director, International Relations Fellows) and Price Massey (Director, Global Health Fellows) made a reconnaissance trip to the Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex in Muscatatuck, Indiana.  Though it is still early in the planning phase, we hope one day soon to enable the IR Fellows to do some foreign policy-related training of their own at this facility!

Wednesday morning began with a visit to the Washington headquarters of the defense contractor Northrop Grumman.  Our host, Vice President for Capture and Proposal Operations, Gary Jack, really rolled out the red carpet for us — we even had a parking space reserved for us!

Parking, Northrop Grumman.

An engineer in the Innovation Center, Kelvin Franklin, demonstrated for the Fellows some of the advanced technologies currently being developed at Northrop Grumman regarding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).  Ambassador Marisa Lino then discussed with the students her distinguished previous career in the Foreign Service and the nature of her current work in the private sector.  She was followed by Ben Abrams, who discussed the relationship between Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Congress, explaining with a smile that while “lobbyists” sometimes get a bad name, they serve a valuable and necessary function.

The Fellows with Ms. Priddy, Dr. Rezelman, Mr. Abrams, Mr. Jack, Mr. Franklin, and Ambassador Lino, Northrop Grumman.

After a quick lunch, in the early afternoon we stopped by the offices of the Washington Bureau of NBC News.  Our host, Ellie Hall (’07), showed us around the studio and introduced us to several of her co-workers, including the Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News, Albert Oetgen; the Deputy Washington Bureau Chief, Ken Strickland; and NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell.  It was fascinating to be a “fly on the wall” as the line-up for that day’s Nightly News was finalized, as well as to see the studio where one of the Nixon-Kennedy debates took place and where even today Meet the Press is filmed.

The Fellows with Ms. Hall, Ms. Priddy, and Dr. Rezelman, Washington Bureau, NBC News.

After our visit to NBC we rushed across town to the Ronald Reagan building for a meeting with officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  Our host, Tom Baltazar, is currently a Senior Advisor in the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs.  After a presentation from Anne Ralte, a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Director of Human Resources, the students enjoyed a lively discussion about the challenges of international development with Mr. Baltazar and Ms. Ralte.

The Fellows with Dr. Rezelman, Ms. Massey, Mr. Baltazar, and Ms. Ralte, U.S. Agency for International Development.

That evening, over an informal dinner of Swedish cuisine, students met with a Director in the Eurasia Group’s Global Energy and Natural Resources department, Greg Priddy.  Mr. Priddy explained how political risk consulting works and gave the students insight into careers, and life in general, “inside the beltway.”

Our final stop for the trip was the Pentagon.  Our host, Lt. Commander Chris Schwarz, discussed with the Fellows his career so far as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, as well as his present work in the Air-Sea Battle Office.  Not only did the students learn a great deal about the Navy, and the Department of Defense in general — they also received a great introduction to the sheer size and scale of the Pentagon itself!

The Fellows with Dr. Rezelman, The Pentagon.

Well, that’s it for the inaugural International Relations Fellows tour of the Washington foreign policy establishment.  Stay tuned to this blog for further updates regarding the activities of the IR Fellows, including retrospective comments next week from Fellows themselves about what they learned during their week in Washington!

Today began with a tour of the Embassy of Nicaragua, followed by a general discussion of what it is that embassies do, with Sammia Hodgson, the Nicaraguan Educational Attaché.  Maria Margarita Espinosa, of PRONicaragua (the official investment promotion agency of Nicaragua), then gave a presentation to the students about the potential advantages of doing business in Nicaragua.  We concluded our visit with an informal conversation about life as a diplomat and simply as a resident of Washington, D.C., and left with a better understanding of Nicaragua, of how embassies work, of possibilities for future collaboration, and even bags of gifts!

The Fellows with Dr. Rezelman, Ms. Priddy, Ms. Espinosa, and Ms. Hodgson, Embassy of Nicaragua.

As we walked to the State Department, Ms. Massey, the Director of the Global Health Fellows program, was delighted to find herself across the street from the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (a Regional Office of the World Health Organization).

Ms. Massey in front of the Pan American Health Organization.

Our visit to the State Department began with a tour of its Operations Center.  Even in today’s world of high technology, managing emerging world crises still largely comes down to phone call and e-mails.  We then visited the Korean offices and discussed Korea, Burma, China, and the Foreign Service in general, with several experts including our host, Mary Beth Polley (’97).  As we were leaving, several Fellows were overhead to be already sketching out their plans to work for the State Department one day.

The Fellows with Dr. Rezelman, Ms. Priddy, and Ms. Polley, State Department.

While we were in the area, we couldn’t resist ducking down to the Mall to visit “Al and Abe”!

The Fellows with Dr. Einstein, The Mall.

The Fellows with Ms. Massey and Dr. Rezelman, Lincoln Memorial.

On Sunday, August 5th, we gathered at Norfolk Academy for the drive to Washington, D.C.  By the time they had finally arrived in Rosslyn, six hours later, two harsh realities of the program had dawned on the International Relations Fellows: Washington traffic is bad, and Dr. Rezelman is capable of talking about world politics for hours.  Topics of conversation in the car varied from the role of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy, to the role of Swedish furniture stores in the restaurant business (and the potential of McDonald’s in the furniture business), to the love lives of various fictional characters from popular culture.  After a dinner atop the hotel restaurant overlooking Georgetown, everyone retreated to rest for our first full day in Washington.

Our formal introduction was accomplished by an ideal host, Glenn Nye, in an ideal place, a conference room overlooking the Capitol.  As a former Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) officer, and U.S. Congressman, Nye was able to provide the Fellows with a sweeping overview of the challenges posed in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy.  Nye focused especially on the relationship between Congress and the various agencies of the Executive Branch.  We also learned about some of the ways Nye’s current employer, Palantir Technologies, provides technological support to the study and practice of U.S. foreign policy.  As Jessica reflected later, “Nye was a great start to our trip as we learned about the new software [created by] Palantir and the media’s influence on government institutions.”  Hannah found most interesting Nye’s work for the State Department “in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Singapore,” remarking “now I want to learn more about being an ambassador.”  Unfortunately our photography skills were not as sophisticated as our host, but with the aid of photo editing software, soon we should be able to improve our group photograph:

The Fellows with Dr. Rezelman and Congressman Glenn Nye, Palantir Technologies.

After our visit to Palantir Technologies, we crossed over from the Senate to the House side of the Capitol:

The Fellows with Ms. Priddy, U.S. Capitol.

The Office of U.S. Representative Scott Rigell (VA-02) was kind enough to arrange a tour of the Capitol for us from none other than Norfolk Academy alumnus, and Rigell intern, Alex Patterson (’09).  Mr. Patterson provided us with an introduction to the breaktaking architecture, sculpture, and history (he was well-trained in history) of the U.S. Capitol.  Along the way, Mr. Patterson also provided the Fellows with an informal discussion of the life of a university student of international relations and the life of an intern “on the Hill.”

The Fellows with Mr. Patterson, U.S. Capitol.

Sophie remarked that “I had never been to the Capitol before.  It was so cool to be in the underground tunnels!”  Pablo was struck by the architecture: “People really enjoy beauty.  The Capitol is nothing but.”  Hannah was especially impressed with “the frieze in the rotunda which was a breaktaking depiction of America through the years.”  Thomas was proud that, while “every state can have two statues of bronze or marble in the Capitol,” Virginia actually gets three (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Robert E. Lee).  Ms. Priddy was finally able to confirm or deny (confirm, as it turns out) a story she had been told as a child that Florida had chosen to honor in one of its statues the inventor of air conditioning.

Robert Gorrie, “Father of Air Conditioning,” U.S. Capitol.

Our final stop of the day was at the Cato Institute.  Our host was Cato’s Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Dr. Christopher Preble.

Dr. Preble, Cato Institute.

Dr. Preble continued the discussion of the role think tanks play in Washington that had begun earlier that day with Glenn Nye’s description of his work with the German Marshall Fund.  As Thomas explained, “many think tanks are liberal or conservative, but the Cato Institute is different because it is libertarian, and sides with both parties on different matters.”  Jessica was impressed by “the Cato Institute’s unique nonpartisan views.”  Pablo explained that “it takes many years of hard thinking and work” to make an impact through a think tank.  Sophie discovered one possible future career path: “Before going to the Cato Institute I wasn’t sure what a think tank was, and now I’m interested in possibly being in one when I’m older.”

A delicious postscript to the day was provided at the Mala Tang Sichuan Hot Pot restaurant.  Some of us discovered that we love seaweed, and some of us discovered that we didn’t, but we all agreed that it was good that we now all had an informed opinion on seaweed.  Sophie made the most important discovery of all, that of a second possible future career path: that of a chef.  We all agreed that “Sophie Sauce” (a mixture of plum sauce and soy sauce) was fantastic.