Behind-the-Scenes
I never used to like politics. The behind-the-scenes of the political sphere intimidated me… and rightly so. Backchannels, lowkey deals, and leveraging individual networks are inherent to the game of politics. This project allowed me to reflect on the learnings of the past four years, through the Minor’s courses and personal professional experiences, which allowed me to grow and understand it better. I have come to learn that the inner workings of politics are not to be feared but rather better analyzed and used to one’s advantage to achieve the best results. I discuss the tools I developed to help me navigate the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of politics. For instance, no longer do I believe that all politicians are evasive. “Trust the principled ones,” a UN diplomat advised me last year. They are hard to find but not impossible, and when found, they are easy to trust. It is true. In my Small States Security class, we discussed the power of principled actors through historical and contemporary examples. All this and more are discussed in this project.
Faculty Mentor: Heather Jaber
E-Portfolio: https://sites.google.com/u.northwestern.edu/lena-e-portfoli/home
