Only in his early thirties, Joshua Walker has an extensive and impressive resume – he was a Fulbright Fellow in Turkey, Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, co-founder of various programs, lecturer at many prestigious universities including Princeton University and Yale University, and the list of his accomplishments continues. As of now, Dr. Walker is a 2012-2013 Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow serving at the U.S. State Department as a senior advisor to the Office of the Secretary. 

I had the privilege of listening to Dr. Walker speak, first at an Athenaeum lunch, then an informal career info session, and then at a personal interview through the Keck Center. I found myself completely entranced by his story and realized that we actually have a lot in common. First of all, we both grew up overseas because of our parents’ work as missionaries. Secondly, we are both passionate about Turkey – I lived in Turkey for 14 years, and Dr. Walker lived in Turkey while he was a Fulbright Fellow and then when he worked at the U.S. Embassy in Turkey, making the country one of Dr. Walker’s areas of expertise. But more than our common backgrounds, I was fascinated by Dr. Walker because of his career path. 

On April 5, 2013, the United States and Japan unveiled a plan to withdraw U.S. military forces from the island of Okinawa and to return 2,500 acres of land rightfully back to the Okinawan people—an effort the Okinawans have been pushing for since the U.S. first established their bases in Okinawa after World War II. According to the new plan, the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station will be fully evacuated by 2022. It also lays out a timetable of withdrawal for five other American bases in the southern half the island, which are to be returned in the late 2020s. While this is a moment of celebration for the Okinawans, there are still some serious concerns that worry the people of the island.

On March 7 I had the pleasure of sitting at the head table with Bruce Hoffman, a professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Director for the university’s Center for Security Studies. As someone who had traveled often for work and specializes in counterterrorism and insurgency (the full list of his accomplishments are listed in the Athenaeum Fortnightly, and worth a look), Professor Hoffman chatted easily with students about their study abroad plans; the night’s topic tied in nicely for a few students in particular who were headed to the Middle East.

His talk was decidedly ominous, but informative: apologizing for speaking as a “scaremonger,” Professor Hoffman stressed that the fight against Al Qaeda was far from over. Rather, he fears that “Al Qaeda’s attempt to catch its second breath may have succeeded.”

On December 15th, 2011, the American military formally ended its mission in Iraq after the loss of over 4,000 service members and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens. The world has radically changed in the nine years since the U.S. military first entered Iraq with Shock and Awe, domestically and abroad. 

Hugo Chávez: The Legacy

By Jason Camilo Vilaseca

On July 28th, 1954 in the rural foothills of the Venezuelan mountains, a revolutionary was born. Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias was born into a family of seven kids, brought up by two schoolteachers who struggled to provide for the family, like many of the 5,000,000 who lived in the country at the time. Chávez was an extremely bright student who enjoyed art, history and baseball. Upon graduation from high school, he headed off to the military academy in Caracas. While at the military academy, Chávez continued to perform well in the academic field and graduated 8th in his class of 75. Subsequently placed in the military, Chávez proceeded to educate himself in the ideals of Marxism as well as the teaching of Símon Bolívar and Ezequil Zamora. During his time in the military, Chávez created an elite unit with the plan of one day overthrowing an unfavorable government. 

In 1992, Hugo took his first steps toward the presidency. President Carlos Andrés Pérez implemented the neoliberal policies recommended by the United States and the International Monetary Fund, harming the economy and clamping down on civil protests with violence. Chávez took action with what now totaled about 5 units of revolutionaries and attempted to oust the government. The coup failed, but Chávez had gained the trust of the poor for his populist message of education and healthcare reform. After his release from prison in 1999, Chávez successfully ran for president. The election of the former soldier led to a tidal wave of reforms that spread throughout the region.

Breaking the Record 

On December 19, 2012, Ms. Park Geun-hye not only won the 18th presidential election of South Korea, but also won the following record-breaking titles: Ms. Park will be the first female president of South Korea, the first president to win by majority vote since 1987, the first president to have majored in engineering, and the first single president. Moreover, this election was significant in that voter turnout was as high as 75.8%. Voter turnout in Korea had been declining since the 13th presidential election in 1987, hitting a low of 63.0% in the 2007 presidential election that elected the current president, Mr. Lee Myung-bak. What triggered South Koreans, who have grown apolitical due to plutocracy and favoritism, to vote this time?

Enraptured by the big headlines and the sport sections of newspapers, Richard McGregor had always been drawn to journalism. He remembers how when he was young, back in his home in Australia, the news coverage of a scandal involving a politician down the road was “larger than life” for him. He began by writing for his student newspaper. After graduating, he wrote for local papers for free, until finally landing a job. “30 years later, here I am, still doing the same thing,” McGregor mused. “Journalism is a great thing – to get out, talk to people, curious about everything – and so it kind of suits me. It has taken me all around the world.”

Richard McGregor is currently the Washington Bureau Chief for the Financial Times.
Previously, he served as the Beijing Bureau Chief and Shanghai correspondent. From an early
age, McGregor had always wanted to go to Asia. When his employer did not send him, he
decided to make his dream a reality by moving to Taiwan. From there, opportunities opened,
taking McGregor to Tokyo, Hong Kong and China over the next two decades. “China wore me
down in many respects,” McGregor said, “but it is also a fantastic place, and to me, the most
exciting place as a journalist because of the velocity and change...It’s just so interesting and also
so difficult. If you find something, you really get a sense of discovery.”

On January 14th the Cuban government ended their requirement for exit permits as part of key changes to a long-disputed foreign travel policy. The news marks yet another reform in a line of policy changes and events that suggest either an evolution or deterioration within the ruling Communist Party.

For over fifty years Cuba’s travel policies caused discontent on both a national and international scale. After the revolution in 1959 Fidel Castro imposed an extensive, nearly impossible list of conditions upon citizens who attempted to leave the island: the disputed exit permit cost about $300—15 times the average monthly salary; dissidents and specialists—such as doctors and lawyers—were often denied a permit outright; even if a citizen managed to leave, they were required to return within 11 months or lose Cuban residency.  By restricting Cubans to the island, the government believed that they could control any possible rebels and prevent the United States from snatching their “vital” professional workers.