This summer, I am interning at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington D.C. as a research intern. My research mainly focuses on Turkey, its domestic politics and its foreign policy in Syria. Beyond excited to be working on my own country, I arrived in Washington D.C. in early June, after a month-long stay in Istanbul.
My first few weeks started off fast paced with the redo of the Istanbul local elections on June 23, which resulted in hundreds of thousands celebrating the results on streets back home. Meanwhile, my fellow interns and researchers have been working on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Russia. As summer interns, we have had trainings on subjects such as levels of war, foreign policy, writing, and research in our first two weeks and met with the ISW staff and analysts.
As a middle eastern studies and international relations major with a concentration in international security, I have really benefited from learning about policy writing and Middle East research from experienced analysts at the office and in D.C itself. I am very excited for the opportunity to further research and analyze Turkish foreign policy, especially because it will culminate in my senior honors thesis on Turkish policy in the Syrian War. I will also be participating in the two-week Hertog War Studies program on military history and theory in late July.
Beyond my work, seeing so many familiar Jumbo faces around has been fascinating. During my first week, I had the chance to go to the “Jumbos on the (Capitol) Hill” event, featuring President Anthony Monaco and Professor Moon Duchin. I met with other current interns in D.C. and past Tufts alumni, working in policy making and academia in the capital. The event had more than 200 Tufts alumni and students, including friends from IGL’s NIMEP research trip to Morocco in March.
My first three weeks at ISW have been a very exciting start and I am very much looking forward to my next two months in Washington D.C.