Sophie Alexis's Response to Meeting with Foreign Service Professionals

On June 22, 2017 Dorothy Ngutter, a Diplomat in Residence for the Northwest Region of the United States, and Evan G. Reade, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer came to World Affairs to discuss with the Summer Institute students their experiences working in the Foreign Service. Through several articles as well as discussions with the speakers, students were able to get a grasp on American diplomacy and the various career paths the Foreign Service can provide. Below is a student’s reflection on meeting with the Foreign Service professionals and their class discussions. 

Our discussion centered around several interesting questions, created by Group C. But there were two in particular that captured my interest: Has the United States’ significant diplomatic and military presence abroad since World War II had a net positive or negative effect? And, would it be a disadvantage to lose this presence or are there advantages to allowing other countries to forge the path forward?

 To begin with the first, the word “net” is too ultimate. As many discussion participants pointed out, the United States’ effect has been varied. Many were quick to point out the negatives: the support for anyone who was not communist which typically led to the installation of dictators, the brazen intervention in Vietnam, Iraq and more. Yet they ignored or skimmed over some of the positives: US leadership in a new world order built on peace and mutual respect culminated in the United Nations, US economic leadership which helped rebuild Europe. And although the list of negatives does seem longer than the list of positives, it would be a mistake to assume that any other country could do better or that America could simply fade into the background on international issues.

 Our national identity is built on the premise of spreading our values. Puritans came to America with the dream of building their society into a “City Upon a Hill”: a beacon to all. The values we embody and we project to the world have inspired revolutions around the globe. We cannot abandon what makes us, us. Especially when times are tough and we feel like giving up. We must strengthen our democracy and be that beacon. Whether or not we influence others militarily, we will continue to influence them culturally. They look to us now and see weakness or hypocrisy. Putin uses us as propaganda to keep his countrymen complacent, telling them to see how even the government in the “great United States” is corrupt and undemocratic. The greatest way to combat the world’s current nationalistic, terror filled trend is to embody every one of our ideals. To be united, to have a strong democracy, to show no fear, to be welcoming. Hate cannot survive in an atmosphere of love: terrorists cannot recruit when their enemies are loved, isolation looks foolish when a country could be involved in a great movement.

In a much less patriotic sense, I simply do not believe America could survive without being a major world power. Like an aunt who loves to meddle in other people’s affairs and make snide comments about the way they dress or act, we cannot give that up- it is who we are. We love to meddle and we need a challenge, something to fight against. We always rise to the highest heights when we are competing. Take the Space Race, the Olympics, war. There are no advantages to letting another country take the lead because we would not be happy. In other words it would not relieve pressure and let us put “America first”, as the argument often goes. Our identity is too entangled in the rest of the world. Letting another country take the lead runs the risk of them not having the same values as us, making us weak and filling us with regret. No other country has the same values as us, even when we stray so far from them. We carry the promise of a better world and we should not discount that for all of our mistakes.

I do not want to return to a time when every country was out for itself, when there was no mode of communication and global cooperation: back to the pre-World War II world. I want the United States to forge a path forward, becoming a better leader, a better country and turning a negative track record into a positive future. It is this dream that has led me to international relations and the Summer Institute. I am essentially an idealist and this is my manifesto, my worldview, my hope, undimming. This is what I fight for, no matter how bleak. They say “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice” and this is how I live. I expect that no matter how long it takes, we are moving toward a more just, happier, more cooperative place and I want to be a part of hastening it along.

- Sophie Alexis