Ahmed Salim

After graduating from Lehigh I was accepted by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs concentrating in international security policy and a regional focus on Africa and the Middle East. I am still at SIPA and will be graduating in May 2010 and will hope to pursue a career in political risk consulting.  During my time at SIPA I have been involved in an array of academic and professional activity.   In my first year at SIPA I was a graduate research assistant, along with four other students, to the Director of the United Nations Studies Program researching on causes and consequences of the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya.  We analyzed the challenges the coalition government faced as well as any potential models that can be applied to other countries facing similar troubles, like Zimbabwe. Currently I am a Graduate Assistant with the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, interning with the Clinton Foundation in their Foreign Policy Department, and doing research for John Avlon, former chief speechwriter for Mayor Rudy Giuliani, on the rise of the right-wing fringe during President Barack Obama’s first year in office.  My work has led me to be a contributor to the Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2010 due out in February, listed as a researcher and editor in Stuart Gottlieb’s Debating Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Conflicting Perspectives on Causes, Contexts, and Responses as well as Richard Gowan’s ESDP and the United Nations published inEuropean Security and Defense Policy by the Institute for Security Studies.  The transition from Lehigh to SIPA was not difficult due to the IR Department’s comprehensive curriculum and foundation. Nothing at SIPA was new for me; everything is a lot more practical and in-depth. SIPA has so far been a great experience and I will be happy to talk to any one interested in pursuing a Master’s degree at SIPA or any other advice.