On April 4, the Oldenborg Luncheon Colloquium (OLC) series invited Michelle Strucke, director of the Humanitarian Agenda and Director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), to share insight on U.S. foreign policy.
The talk was co-sponsored with Pomona College’s International Relations program and Politics department.
Drawing from her experiences at the CSIS and her appointment by the White House to serve as the first deputy assistant secretary of defense for global partnerships, Strucke spoke on U.S. foreign policy from both an administrative perspective and as someone with a background in human rights works.
Because of her focus in humanitarian affairs and human rights, Strucke’s work concentrated deliberately on humanitarian needs.
During her talk, Strucke emphasized foreign policymaking’s significant role in addressing cross border issues — including global humanitarian emergencies — such as the COVID-19 pandemic. She discussed the contradictions present in policymaking and highlighted that foreign policies are executed to simultaneously align with a nation’s values.
Strucke also spoke about her experience serving in a leadership role in Washington, D.C. at a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to Syrians in need. Through her role, she gained firsthand experience of the contradictions in policymaking, noting that although the U.S. is the world’s largest humanitarian donor, it is also the largest military supplier.
Sofia Guimaraes PO ’24 shared her key takeaways from Strucke’s talk.
“Besides her insights of what’s happening in the policy world in D.C., for me personally, the biggest [takeaway was learning] how there are so many different avenues through which one can make an impact on policy,” Guimaraes said. “We see that she has worked in the [Department of Defense] as well as … now directing a think tank. The whole policy-making process is super complex, but it is important to acknowledge that you’re not powerless, if that makes sense.”
Angel Yuan PO ’25, a student liaison in the International Relations Department who helped organize the event, introduced Strucke at the beginning of her talk. While Strucke and Mietek Boduszynski, associate professor of Politics at Pomona, primarily handled the organizing process, Yuan assisted with advertising the event to students.
“As a liaison, I see my role as making sure that students are aware of these events and that they’re being invited to these conversations and opportunities,” Yuan said. “I think the role I see aside from just the regular events is just making sure students are aware of these IR-related events and potential networking opportunities, or if they want to hear if they have access to that.”
Yuan shared her thoughts on Strucke’s talk and its significance to current events.
“Based on her experience and her expertise in humanitarian affairs and humanitarian aid — and she had worked specifically also on civilian harm mitigation — I thought those were all super pertinent,” Yuan said. “She gave a really cool perspective into what these conversations and bureaucracy actually look like from someone who’s worked within the system.”
Informed by her understanding of foreign policy as an International Relations major, Yuan discussed some key takeaways of the talk for attendees interested in learning more about U.S. foreign policy.
“I think in general — so I’d say much less for IR majors, but just for general people who are in these classes and learning about things — I would say the big takeaway is yes, U.S. foreign policy is very much imperfect and very much hypocritical as is foreign policy for literally any country,” Yuan said.
OLC co-director Carolina De la Rosa Bustamante shared their goals for the program.
“Our hope for the OLC program is to elevate and make learning about global matters accessible to all in our community, as well as to create a space for dialogue about global issues,” De la Rosa Bustamante said.
De la Rosa Bustamante’s co-director Eileen Cheng underscored the joy of connection through global inquiry.
“It’s always wonderful to see so many 5C students, faculty staff and community members connect with each other over lunch and be inspired by the ideas and creativity of our array of speakers and performers,” Cheng said. “In the span of an hour, we gather together to learn about others’ experience of the world, in turn enhancing our own — reminding us all the more the importance of community and seeing the world through diverse perspectives.”
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