THE FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTE

Maureen White, Senior Fellow

 

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get involved in foreign policy issues?

I began working on humanitarian issues more than twenty years ago when I joined the board of the International Rescue Committee. The first crisis I dealt with was the Bosnian conflict in the early 1990s. After this experience, I decided to join other humanitarian boards and now have become actively involved in humanitarian issues. Under the second Clinton term, I was appointed as the US Government representative to UNICEF. I was based in New York, but did a lot of traveling throughout Africa. I then served under two US ambassadors to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke and Bill Richardson. When Ambassador Holbrooke became the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan under the Obama administration, he asked me to come to DC to help with humanitarian issues within the office.

 

Is there any research or are there any specific projects you are currently working on?

I lead the Conflict and Humanitarian Crises Initiative with FPI. Thus far I have focused on exploring solutions to problems related to international humanitarian issues and the increasing number of refugees in the world. The numbers of people affected are at an all time high, largely due to an increase in conflict in the Middle East and Africa. The world is faced with larger numbers of refugees who are displaced for longer periods of time. The profile of the refugee crisis is different from the past. Now, 80% of refugees are in their situation because of conflict, and 20% is due to natural disasters. This was the reverse a decade ago. The amount of money needed to deal with these situations has increased twelvefold in the last decade. The funding to support these marginalized groups is at an all time high but there is still a gap between the amount of money needed to service these populations and the money that is actually coming in to support these issues. In addition, the conditions of refugees have changed dramatically. Most refugees are not in camps, rather they are in urban settings or informal tent settlements. Because of this there are many challenges to humanitarian service providers who have traditionally worked in camp situations. For example, non-camp refugees are harder to find, register, service, and ultimately help. At FPI I am holding a series of roundtables with United States Institute of Peace, InterAction, the UN Foundation, and World Food Program USA to discuss various ways to improve, reform, and reconfigure humanitarian assistance. 

 

What do you see as the most important current foreign policy issue that the United States is facing?

The greatest current issue is ISIS. It has led to civil unrest in many countries in the Middle East and has caused mass displacement in populations. It affects everything, beyond the issues that I work on. 

 

Do you have any advice for SAIS students who are currently working to build their careers in issues related to foreign policy?

For people interested in humanitarian and conflict issues, learn Arabic. It’s difficult but it is proving very useful. In addition, spend as much time as possible overseas, either working in the field or traveling in the region. Last, it is important to understand religions and sectarian issues, culture, language, etc. when dealing with populations in crisis. History plays an important role.

 

Anything else?

Working in this area is frustrating, challenging, and depressing, but it is also very rewarding. In this realm of existence you see the worst of mankind in terms of pain inflicted on other human beings. At the same time, you see the most inspirational and restorative examples of people doing great work to help others in extremely difficult circumstances. For every heartache in the field, there are moments of shared ecstasy when you see great moments of human nature. 

 

I recently went to an event at the Atlantic Council that provided this hope. One of the speakers was a Lebanese woman who had gone to an area of Tripoli where there had been a great conflict between two towns. There was a lot of violence, weapons, and grievances. She set up a theater group for 18-25 year olds who were unemployed and had violent histories. These individuals came together to put on a play and it was a transformative experience. Now the group has grown to 35. She is currently working to expand this model throughout Lebanon. She went in with an idea and little funding to use culture to form bonds.

 

As reported by Ashley Patton, Graduate Research and Web Assistant, FPI