Week Four

My fourth week here at NCSC was slow for a few reasons. First, our boss, one of the Managing Directors in the International Programs Division, was in Moldova all week. He was there to conclude NCSC's initiative that focused on creating a standardized legal writing and research education in the country. Throughout the past few years of the program, NCSC has worked with many professors, judges, law students, members of the local bar association, and other stakeholders in the justice system on this project. After speaking with members of our field office in Moldova, I realized I had taken for granted the foundational legal writing and research class all law students in America take their 1L year that focuses on objective and persuasive writing. The trip last week was bittersweet, as the initiative wrapped up before it was complete. Additionally, all staff had a deadline to submit information to the State Department last Friday. The Department is reviewing all grant work with heightened scrutiny, which has caused the NCSC staff to work overtime to explain and defend initiatives. The State Department requested the staff provide detailed accounts for each project, with clear missions, steps, and data to defend the spending of every dollar. Considering how abnormal this request was, everyone was stressed all week working hard to meet this deadline.

Despite these factors, I was still able to work on a cool research project - writing up an overview of the State Department's recently announced reorganization plan. To align with the new administration's foreign policy goals, the Department is eliminating certain bureaus, combining offices together, and in some instances creating new roles. Overall, this has resulted in the Department getting rid of anything that focuses on human rights, diversity, immigration, and other basic rights such as due process in favor of areas such as safety and security measures, criminal justice, and transnational crime. For example, NCSC's grant money comes from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, which has been moved from under the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International  Security. This change in administrative priority is also reflected in the projects here at NCSC that are ongoing and those that have been shuttered.

Looking forward, I should be working on exciting research projects over the next few weeks, and stay tuned for a fun delegation visit from Kenya!