Joseph Nye: I'm your Woman

Joseph S. Nye had an important oped in the Wash Post today entitled "Scholars on the Sidelines" arguing that too few international relations experts and regionalists enter the policy world.

The whole reason I went to graduate school in Middle Eastern History was to do exactly what Nye says people are not doing: To learn about the region and its history so that I could then help help form more applicable and appropriate policies there, thus improving the state of countries their and our own standing in the world. Everyone else I meet in the field went and studied conflict resolution and policy studies, to me this wasn't as crucial: How the heck can you solve a conflict if you don't know the history??

So if you're reading this Mr. Nye (which you're not) I'm your woman.

I have found it difficult to break into this world - even with Arabic language skills, time in Morocco with Peace Corps, my graduate school regional studies, living in Syria, a few connections, several painstaking and outlandishly time consuming applications on USAjobs for State Dept, and at Avue Digital Service for USAID, taking but failing the FS exam by 5 points.

My friend Andrea, an amazing Arabic speaker and graduate school dropout, recently suggested we go down to State Dept wearing poster boards saying, "Hire me I speak Arabic'.

So if you see someone down there next week, that's us, honk and wave.