"The Ripple Effect": Anthony Arend and Foreign Affairs

    With a new presidency comes new ideas. That is why Anthony Arend, Chair of the Department of Government at Georgetown University, was invited to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy, in a virtual Global Initiatives Program (GIP) event hosted by senior Global Scholars Sarah R. and Ian E. on Jan. 7, 2021.

    Arend works in the fields of international law, national security law, international legal theory, and human rights and is currently the Professor of Government and Foreign Service in addition to serving as department chair. The presentation was centered around the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy, which Arend broke down into three main points: what the foreign policy team would inherit from the Trump administration, the members of the team, and the primary issues the team would face.

    Several times throughout the presentation, Arend talked about how the incoming administration’s initial duty would be to reestablish international relationships with U.S allies, in addition to organizations such as NATO, WHO, and the Human Rights Council. He also touched on issues regarding human rights, climate change, weapons of mass destruction, and cybersecurity that the Biden-Harris administration would need to account for in shaping their foreign policies.

    In the days and weeks following the event, Arend’s video presentation was viewed by individuals beyond the Poly community. The circulation of the event encapsulates Poly’s Global Initiatives Program’s (GIP) theme this year: “The Ripple Effect,” a metaphor to express that one person’s effort can have larger effects.

   I hope that the Poly community will be fortunate enough to have Arend for another event in the near future.