The Associated Colleges of the Midwest and Chicago Council on Global Affairs joined together in 2021 to curate and host a series on Foreign Policy in Practice. Together, the ACM and Chicago Council host hybrid and virtual, interactive discussions for ACM students, faculty, and staff interested in foreign policy issues and their connection to the Midwest. Activities also include opportunities for students to network with speakers and attendees, with the goal of helping students translate their academic and professional interests into career opportunities in the world of foreign policy.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is an independent, nonpartisan organization that provides insight on critical global issues, advances policy solutions, and fosters dialogue about what is happening in the world and why it matters to people in Chicago, the United States, and around the globe.
Please see below for information on past and upcoming events, including event descriptions, panelist details, and recordings of selected past events.
Fall 2023: Partisanship and US Foreign Policy
Political polarization in US politics is at an all-time high. While this has profound effects on domestic policy, what does extreme partisanship mean for US foreign policymaking? Where do Americans differ the most on global issues? How might it impact decisions on climate change, migration, and US-China relations? Can the United States promise consistency to its allies and partners if there are large swings from one administration to the next? Panelists discussed how political affiliation impacts the American public’s views of US foreign policy and how it has changed over time, as reflected in the 2023 Chicago Council Survey.
This event was hosted at Lake Forest College as an in-person offering for members of the Lake Forest College and local communities. It was also streamed virtually so that faculty, staff, and students on the other ACM campuses could participate individually or through group-viewing arrangements.
Moderator
James Marquardt, Professor of International Relations, Chair of the Department of Politics and International Relations, Lake Forest College
Dr. James Marquardt joined the faculty at Lake Forest College in 2002. He was tenured in 2008 and promoted to full professor in 2022. Over the past twenty years he has taught nearly two-dozen courses to several thousand college students.
Born and raised in Ridley, Pennsylvania, a township in the southwestern suburbs of Philadelphia, Dr. Marquardt received his B.A. in political science in 1984 from nearby Villanova University. He earned a master’s degree in international relations in 1984 and a Ph.D. in political science in 1998 from the University of Chicago. Before arriving at Lake Forest, he also taught undergraduate courses at Northwestern University, Marquette University, Colby College, Haverford College, and St. Joseph’s University.
Dr. Marquardt is the author of two books and nearly a dozen other publications. His most recent academic publication is a scholarly article about former President Obama’s call for greater openness and transparency in American government and international relations. He has just completed a book project that tells the story of a Chicago woman’s one-year employment in France during World War One as a Y.M.C.A. welfare worker for American servicemen. It will be published in 2024. Dr. Marquardt’s current research investigates how the United States has historically sought to affect global politics by undertaking domestic reforms it believes will co-opt other countries and encourage them to follow America’s lead.
Panelists
Zachary Cook, Associate Professor of Politics, Lake Forest College
Dr. Zachary Cook received his doctorate in political science from Northwestern University. His academic specialties and teaching interests include public opinion, campaigns and elections, and the presidency. He is currently finishing a book manuscript comparing public policy attitudes of under-thirty Americans over the last ninety years.
Elizabeth Shackelford, Senior Fellow, U.S. Foreign Policy, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Elizabeth Shackelford’s analysis, writing, and outreach focus on building awareness and understanding of a “restraint” approach to foreign policy, which seeks to limit the use of military force to the defense of core U.S. national security interests and favors robust diplomatic engagement. She was a career diplomat with the U.S. Department of State until December 2017, when she resigned in protest of the Trump administration. As a Foreign Service Officer, Shackelford served in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Poland, and Washington, D.C., tracking political and conflict developments, advising Mission and Washington leadership, and advocating for U.S. interests with foreign counterparts.
As a non-resident fellow with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in 2020, Shackelford conducted research, analysis, and commentary on the costs of a militarized approach to foreign policy and the need for greater accountability in U.S. actions abroad. Shackelford is the author of The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age (PublicAffairs, 2020), winner of the 2020 Douglas Dillon Book Award.
Dina Smeltz, Senior Fellow, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
With 25 years of experience designing and fielding international social and political surveys, Dina Smeltz joined the Chicago Council on Global Affairs as senior fellow on public opinion and foreign policy in 2012. She oversees the Council’s well-known annual survey of American attitudes toward foreign policy and has authored and co-authored many of the analyses based on that work. She also directs the Council’s collaboration with Russian, Mexican, Canadian, Australian, and East Asian research organizations. Smeltz has published commentary on public opinion and international issues in The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, POLITICO, RealClearWorld, Foreign Policy, and the Council’s survey blog (Running Numbers).
As the director of research in the Middle East and South Asia division (2001-2007) and analyst/director of the European division (1992-2004) in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the US State Department’s Office of Research, Smeltz conducted over a hundred surveys in these regions and regularly briefed senior government officials on key research findings.
With a special emphasis on research in post-conflict situations, Smeltz has worked with research teams in Bosnia, Kosovo, Cyprus, Israel-Palestinian Territories, and Iraq (2003-2005), where she was one of the few people on the ground who could accurately report average Iraqis impressions of the post-war situation. Smeltz has consulted for several NGOs and research organizations on projects spanning women’s development in Afghanistan, civil society in Egypt, and evaluating voter education efforts in Iraq.
Smeltz has an MA from the University of Michigan and a BS from Pennsylvania State University.
Spring 2023: Balancing US Interests and Values in a Complex World
Former US Diplomat Elizabeth Shackelford joined Colorado College students to talk about her path to a career in foreign affairs and what advocating for US interests and values looks like from the front lines of our global engagement. This event was also streamed online so that students, faculty, and staff on the other ACM campuses could participate virtually.
Speaker
Elizabeth Shackelford, Senior Fellow, U.S. Foreign Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former U.S. foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department
Elizabeth Shackelford’s analysis, writing, and outreach focus on building awareness and understanding of a “restraint” approach to foreign policy, which seeks to limit the use of military force to the defense of core U.S. national security interests and favors robust diplomatic engagement. She was a career diplomat with the U.S. Department of State until December 2017, when she resigned in protest of the Trump administration. As a Foreign Service Officer, Shackelford served in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Poland, and Washington, D.C., tracking political and conflict developments, advising Mission and Washington leadership, and advocating for U.S. interests with foreign counterparts.
As a non-resident fellow with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in 2020, Shackelford conducted research, analysis, and commentary on the costs of a militarized approach to foreign policy and the need for greater accountability in U.S. actions abroad. Shackelford is the author of The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age (PublicAffairs, 2020), winner of the 2020 Douglas Dillon Book Award.
Winter 2023: Russia’s War in Ukraine at One Year: Local, Regional, & Global Impact and Prospects
The impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine has rippled across the globe, with dire consequences not only for the Ukrainian people but also energy markets, food security, and trade worldwide. It has reinvigorated Western alliances, shaken up relationships among post-Soviet states, caused tension with states of the Global South, and raised concern about the role of China in international crises.
Students and faculty from across the ACM discussed how different countries have responded, why they have responded the way they have, and what the trajectory might look like in the year to come.
This event was hosted at Knox College as an in-person offering for members of the Knox and Monmouth College communities. It was also streamed online so that faculty, staff, and students on the other ACM campuses could participate virtually.
Moderator
Michael Nelson, Associate Professor and Co-Chair of Political Science, Director of the Center for Civic and Social Change; Monmouth College
Michael Nelson’s research focuses on the international relations of African states, including their participation in global governance, their foreign relations (especially with China), and environmental politics in the region. He is interested in understanding how and why different parts of the world get along with each other with the challenges of poverty and inequality and the incredible varieties of cultures.
Nelson was previously Chair of African Studies, Assistant Professor of Government, and a member of the College of Environment at Wesleyan University. He has consulted for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.S. State Department. He has also served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Ghana. Nelson is the author of African Coalitions and Global Economic Governance (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Panelists
Katie Stewart, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Knox College
Katie Stewart’s research and teaching interests stem from a fascination with how national identities come to be so strongly held and contested. She is broadly interested in the processes by which “we the people” is defined and promoted, who gets to do the defining, and who is excluded. She also explores how this process varies in its form and significance in authoritarian versus democratic states.
Stewart’s current research project examines how the Putin administration uses nationalism as a strategy for bolstering its legitimacy and popular support in Russia. She explores Putin’s legitimating nationalism through a comparison of symbolic politics in three of Russia’s ethnic republics based on fieldwork observations and interviews. She also uses survey data to evaluate this strategy’s effectiveness in increasing regime legitimacy.
Elizabeth Shackelford, Senior Fellow, U.S. Foreign Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former U.S. foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department
Elizabeth Shackelford’s analysis, writing, and outreach focus on building awareness and understanding of a “restraint” approach to foreign policy, which seeks to limit the use of military force to the defense of core U.S. national security interests and favors robust diplomatic engagement. She was a career diplomat with the U.S. Department of State until December 2017, when she resigned in protest of the Trump administration. As a Foreign Service Officer, Shackelford served in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Poland, and Washington, D.C., tracking political and conflict developments, advising Mission and Washington leadership, and advocating for U.S. interests with foreign counterparts.
As a non-resident fellow with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in 2020, Shackelford conducted research, analysis, and commentary on the costs of a militarized approach to foreign policy and the need for greater accountability in U.S. actions abroad. Shackelford is the author of The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age (PublicAffairs, 2020), winner of the 2020 Douglas Dillon Book Award.
Fall 2022: Career Conversations – Career Trajectories and Types in Foreign Affairs
Have you wondered what a career in foreign affairs might encompass and how you might take your important first step in that direction? Students from across the ACM engaged in a conversation about different career types and paths in this field and heard from a panel of professionals whose experiences span the government and private sector and diverse perspectives from journalism, advocacy, diplomacy, tech, and security. Our panelists discussed their career paths and how these different foreign affairs tracks interact. This conversation was followed by time for students to ask questions of the panelists, discuss potential career paths, and network with their ACM peers.
Panelists
Nahal Toosi
Nahal is POLITICO’s senior correspondent for foreign affairs and national security. Her work has taken her from the halls of the US State Department to refugee camps in Asia. Nahal joined POLITICO from The Associated Press, where she reported from and/or served as an editor in New York, Islamabad, Kabul and London. Prior to joining the AP, Nahal worked for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she spent most of her time at the college paper, The Daily Tar Heel.
Darya Pilram
Darya is the head of strategy and policy for Carnegie Mellon University’s Artificial Intelligence Division at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Previously, Darya led research and insights for Twitter’s Harmful Group Activity team. Before transitioning into tech, Darya worked to uncover the human aspect of conflict and unintended consequences of military operations in Afghanistan, Somalia, and other conflict and post-conflict zones. She earned her Master of Public Health from George Washington University and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Anthropology from the University of California, San Diego.
Jeffrey Smith
Jeffrey is the founder and Executive Director of Vanguard Africa. He has over a decade of experience in human rights advocacy, pro-democracy and research work on Africa, including at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Freedom House, National Endowment for Democracy, Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa, and UNESCO. Jeffrey has planned and conducted human rights and civil society assessment missions to several African countries and has published extensively on US-Africa policy and human rights.
Maureen Farrell
Maureen is the Director for the Horn of Africa at the National Security Council, where she develops and advances US policies and objectives across the region. Maureen has more than 20 years of specialized experience in Africa, having worked in the development, defense, and diplomacy sectors on the continent. She has previously worked for US Africa Command (AFRICOM), in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, at the Department of State, as a USAID implementer, on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector.
Elizabeth Shackelford
Elizabeth Shackelford is a senior fellow in US foreign policy with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She was a career diplomat with the US Department of State until December 2017, when she resigned in protest of the Trump administration. As a Foreign Service Officer, Shackelford served in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Poland, and Washington, D.C. She is the author of The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age, winner of the 2020 Douglas Dillon Book Award.
Spring 2022: Democracy and Human Rights vs. Authoritarianism Around the World
Ukraine today represents the frontline of a global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. How much should the US prioritize democracy and human rights promotion abroad? How can the US and its democratic allies help bolster democratic movements around the world without fostering instability? What foreign policy tools are available to help shore up democracy and human rights? And how does our foreign policy at times boost authoritarian regimes instead?
Our panel of experts, who have worked on the front lines of US foreign policy on these very issues, discussed practical solutions and real challenges in promoting these values in our engagements around the world as well as why these issues matter to Americans here at home. The panelists also shared some words of advice for students interested in pursuing a career in foreign policy.
Panelists
Kristine Berzina
Kristine Berzina is a senior fellow and head of the geopolitics team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy in GMF’s Washington, D.C. office. Berzina works on building transatlantic cooperation to counter authoritarian interference in democracies. In this role she focuses on U.S.–EU relations, NATO, digital technology, disinformation, and energy topics. Berzina appears frequently in international media, including the Financial Times, the BBC, NPR, Deutsche Welle, Euronews, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Prior to joining GMF, Berzina worked on energy security, transatlantic cooperation, and climate change and security in Brussels and Berlin. A native of Latvia, Berzina grew up in the United States. She received her master’s degree in international relations from the University of Cambridge and her bachelor’s in political science and history from Yale University. Berzina is a native speaker of English and Latvian, has worked in German, and has a basic knowledge of Russian and French.
Steve Feldstein
Steven Feldstein is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program where he focuses on issues of technology and democracy, human rights, and U.S. foreign policy. Previously, he was the holder of the Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs and an associate professor at Boise State University.
He served as a deputy assistant secretary in the democracy, human rights, and labor bureau in the U.S. Department of State as an appointee under President Obama, where he had responsibility for Africa policy, international labor affairs, and international religious freedom. He also served as the director of policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He previously worked as counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations under Chairmen Joseph Biden and John Kerry.
Feldstein’s articles and essays have appeared in American Purpose, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Journal of Democracy, Just Security, MIT Technology Review, The Conversation, The National Interest, War on the Rocks, The Washington Post, and World Politics Review. He received his B.A. from Princeton and his J.D. from Berkeley Law.
He is the author of The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Marti Flacks
Marti Flacks is the Khosravi Chair in Principled Internationalism and Director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The initiative seeks to bring innovative thinking and a multidisciplinary approach to tackle pressing global human rights challenges and better integrate human rights across foreign policy priorities. Ms. Flacks spent more than a decade in the U.S. government, most recently serving at the National Security Council (NSC) as director of African affairs from 2015 to 17, where she coordinated U.S. policy across East and Southern Africa and on continent-wide trade and economic issues.
Prior to the NSC, Ms. Flacks spent three years as deputy director of the Office of Energy Programs at the U.S. State Department, leading the department’s work on energy transparency and good governance, and four years working for the U.S. special envoy for Sudan on implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the independence of South Sudan. She joined the U.S. government through the Presidential Management Fellows program at the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to joining CSIS, Ms. Flacks served as deputy director & head of the North America office at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a human rights organization focused on the role of business in respecting human rights. Ms. Flacks received a BS in foreign service from Georgetown University, a master’s degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a JD from Columbia Law School. She is originally from Solon, Ohio.
Elizabeth Shackelford
Elizabeth Shackelford is a senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She was a career diplomat with the US Department of State until December 2017, when she resigned in protest of the Trump administration. Her resignation letter was the first to draw widespread attention to the declining state of diplomacy under Donald Trump. As a Foreign Service Officer, Shackelford served in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Poland, and Washington, D.C. For her work in South Sudan during the outbreak of civil war in 2013, she received the Barbara Watson Award for Consular Excellence, the Department’s highest honor for consular work. Shackelford is the author of The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age, winner of the 2020 Douglas Dillon Book Award. Shackelford’s op-eds and commentary have been published in numerous outlets including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and Slate. Shackelford has a BA from Duke University and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh.
Winter 2022: Career Conversations – Career Trajectories and Types in Foreign Policy
Have you wondered what a career in foreign policy might encompass and how you might take your important first step in that direction? Students from across the ACM engaged in a conversation about different career types in foreign policy and heard from a panel of professionals with careers spanning the State Department, the intelligence community, the National Security Council, the Hill, advocacy organizations, and think tanks. Our panelists discussed their career paths and how these different foreign policy positions interact, followed by time for Q&A and rotating breakout sessions during which students asked questions of the panelists, discussed potential career paths, and networked with their ACM peers.
About the Panelists
Charles Carithers
Mr. Charles Carithers is a principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs, a consulting firm that advises clients with interest related to national security, defense, and Homeland security. He previously served as a Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of Representatives. Before joining the Committee, Charles spent 11 years in the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), including work as a senior policy officer within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Charles also served as a Brookings Institution legislative fellow with the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the Senate. Charles is a 2005 graduate of Morehouse College and a 2007 graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Courtney Cooper
Courtney Cooper is a career national security official currently serving in the U.S. Intelligence Community. Prior to this role, she was an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, focused on policy issues related to South Asia, insurgencies, and global peace-building efforts. From 2015-2017, Ms. Cooper served as Director for Afghanistan on the National Security Council staff, coordinating and implementing the President’s policy priorities on Afghanistan. Prior to the White House, she worked in various roles related to national security and international trade, including at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Ms. Cooper holds a MA in International Affairs from George Washington University and BA degrees in Political Science and International Affairs from the University of Arizona.
Matt Duss
Matthew Duss is a Foreign Policy Advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders. Previously, he was the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, and director of the Center’s Middle East Progress program. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Nation, Foreign Policy, Politico, the American Prospect, and Democracy. He appears regularly as a commentator on radio and television. He received an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies, and a BA in political science from the University of Washington.
Major Fadji K. Kumapley
Major Fadji Kumapley currently serves at the U.S. Central Command, in the Commander’s Action Group. He previously led an analytical team on Great Power Competition in the CENTCOM’s Joint Intelligence Center. As a U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer (FAO), with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, Fadji served at the U.S. Embassy in Guinea as the Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation, as a Pol-Mil Officer at U.S. Africa Command, and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy on Africa. Prior to becoming a FAO, MAJ Kumapley was a Military Intelligence and an Armor officer at U.S. Southern Command in Miami, FL, with the 1st Cavalry Division out of Ft. Bliss, Texas and with the 1st Infantry Division in Ft. Riley, Kansas. Fadji is fluent in French and conversational in Ewe. His civilian education consists of a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology and a Master of Arts degree in African Security Studies from the Naval Post-Graduate School. In 2014, MAJ Kumapley completed a 10-month military education exchange program at the Ecole Superieure Internationale de Guerre in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Elizabeth Shackelford
Elizabeth Shackelford is a senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She was a career diplomat with the US Department of State until December 2017, when she resigned in protest of the Trump administration. Her resignation letter was the first to draw widespread attention to the declining state of diplomacy under Donald Trump. As a Foreign Service Officer, Shackelford served in Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Poland, and Washington, D.C. For her work in South Sudan during the outbreak of civil war in 2013, she received the Barbara Watson Award for Consular Excellence, the Department’s highest honor for consular work. Shackelford is the author of The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age, winner of the 2020 Douglas Dillon Book Award. Shackelford’s op-eds and commentary have been published in numerous outlets including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and Slate. Shackelford has a BA from Duke University and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh.
Fall 2021: Public Opinion and Foreign Policy – Does It Matter, and If So, How?
As the Biden administration champions a Foreign Policy for the Middle Class, the first program in the series considers how the opinions of Americans outside the foreign policy community factor into foreign policy decision making. To what extent does public opinion influence foreign policy decisions, and to what extent should it? How does our foreign policy influence public opinion in return?
Dina Smeltz, senior fellow on public opinion and foreign policy for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and lead for the annual survey of American attitudes towards foreign policy, and James N. Druckman, the Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, joined Elizabeth Shackelford, senior fellow on foreign policy, in a conversation that addressed the theory, practice, and history of public opinion’s influence on foreign policy. This was followed by time for audience Q&A and an informal opportunity for participants to network with their ACM peers, discuss careers in foreign policy, and continue the conversation.
