Before enrolling at SPIA, my work took me to Somalia, Ghana, South Africa, Afghanistan, and ultimately, Washington, D.C. In government, I worked for the Department of Defense and then at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Later, at the State Department, I served as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and as the Chief of Staff for Secretary Kerry’s Policy Planning Staff. After all of this, I was at a pivot point. I wanted to do a deeper assessment of U.S. foreign policy, which is what led me to pursue a Ph.D. My focus is on the grand strategy of leading powers — particularly when confronted with narratives around relative decline. I chose Princeton because, more than anywhere else, theory and practice are interwoven into the fabric of the School. To me, that's critical. At the end of the day, I continue to believe in American leadership and hope to derive lessons from the interplay between practical experience and academic analysis."

.. And, on a much more personal note, life has come full circle since moving to New Jersey. I have a classic immigrant story; when I was 6, I moved to New Jersey from the former Yugoslavia. I grew up in Fort Lee, where I learned to speak English in first grade through the public school’s ESL program. Those years were formative. Now, my son is attending school for the first time in New Jersey — just like I did. It’s interesting where life will take you, abroad and then right back home." — Tamara Klajn, Ph.D. Candidate, Security Studies.