Hello! My name is Elizabeth (Lizzy) Linsenmayer, and I am a junior majoring in International Affairs with minors in Peace Studies and Arabic. I was in the International Politics WLP cohort from 2019-2020, through which I built the foundation of my knowledge and interests in international security with the support of WLP’s unmatched faculty. Two years after finishing my time in WLP, and months after an onerous application/onboarding process, I started my internship in the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism with the generous assistance of the The Kimberly & J. Robert Humphries Scholarship.
Under the excellent supervision of former WLP IP Professor Michelle Allendoerfer, I developed a deep appreciation and curiosity for the role of agencies such as the State Department in executing U.S. foreign policy. This foundation was cemented for me during my short, yet enriching time in the State Department, during which the many young women working in my office offered me the same mentorship that I enjoyed during my time in WLP. The international affairs field, especially in any subfield related to security, remains an overwhelmingly male-dominated environment, so the opportunity to work in an office with so many female mentors was unparalleled.
The actual content and responsibilities of my internship varied greatly by the day and the ever changing needs of the office. Beyond regular meetings with the various teams, I frequently copyedited reports or newsletters in collaboration with my supervisors. I sincerely appreciated my office’s dedication to my demonstrated interests, particularly in East African security; my mentor in the Africa regional team went above and beyond to plan weekly meetings with the office’s advisors located across the continent, through which I was given a glimpse into the intensely demanding, though rewarding, work of foreign diplomats. These meetings also granted me the opportunity to speak with field experts about various security challenges currently faced in their host country, which I later used to inform my research both in the office and in my coursework at GW.
Though the majority of my internship was virtual, I did have the opportunity - thanks to one of my many phenomenal mentors in the office - to tour both our office and the National Museum of American Diplomacy, a small exhibit in the State Department’s HQ chronicling the storied history of the Department and American foreign relations more broadly. Despite the massive roadblock that the COVID-19 pandemic brought into every student’s educational and professional career, I was overjoyed to have even a sliver of in-person experience with the office.
Reflecting on this experience brings me both great pride and gratitude; without the help and support of my peers dating back to my first days on campus in WLP, I could not have accomplished all that led me to this point. Moving forward, I hope to cultivate the same welcoming and supportive environment in forthcoming positions where I can support future generations of women in security. I plan to build on the knowledge gained through my time in the Department by continuing to explore equitable and sustainable counterterrorism policy in East Africa, including through my current thesis research on the lessons learned from the American-led UNITAF Mission in Somalia.