Attendees:

INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to World Outlook’s podcast, The Outlook. I’m Sophia Sahni, a ‘28, and I’m Pranav Akella, a ‘27. Today we’re excited and honored to be joined by Susan Stigant, a director at the US Institute of Peace and Michael Woldemariam, a professor and Senior Fellow at the Center for International & Security Studies.

Thank you for joining us.

Bio: Record BIOS after the podcast (in the interest of time)

Susan Stigant is the director of Africa Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace that last month established an Africa Center to deepen, elevate, and expand the Institute’s commitment to stem violent conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ms. Stigant oversees the Institute’s programming on strategic regional engagement in the Greater Horn of Africa, with the African Union as well as constitutional reform and national dialogue processes. She is also the co-director of Senior Study Group on Peace in the Red Sea Arena convened by the U.S. Institute of Peace. Ms. Stigant previously managed constitutional development, citizen engagement and election observation programs with the National Democratic Institute. She was the NDI program director in South Sudan from 2005-2011 where she supported the implementation of the peace agreement. She previously worked with the Forum of Federations on comparative federalism and with the research unit of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in South Africa.

Michael^[a] Woldemariam is an associate professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International & Security Studies at Maryland. Woldemariam’s teaching and research interests are in African security studies, with a particular focus on armed conflict in the Horn of Africa. Woldemariam’s scholarly work has been published in a wide-range of peer-reviewed journals, most recently in Contemporary Security Policy and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. His popular essays have appeared in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and Current History. His first book, Insurgent Fragmentation in the Horn of Africa: Rebellion and Its Discontents, was published with Cambridge University Press in 2018. In addition to his scholarly work, Woldemariam has consulted with a number of international organizations, primarily on issues related to politics, governance, and security in the Greater Horn of Africa region. He holds a BA from Beloit College, and MA and PhD degrees from Princeton University. Prior to joining SPP, Woldemariam was a tenured faculty member at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies and the Director of its African Studies Center. He has also worked as a research specialist with Princeton University’s Innovations for Successful Societies program and held fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Penn State’s African Research Center. In 2020-21, Woldemariam served on the Democratic staff at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee through a Council on Foreign Relations fellowship.

Questions:

1. To start us off, we hoped you might be able to share with our listeners a bit about your personal journeys from your undergraduate education into the world of international affairs. How did you become interested in the field, and how have your interests developed throughout your career?
2. Is there anything that American policy makers misunderstand about this region that affects US strategy in the area? - Pranav
3. How do interactions between local governance, national politics, and foreign intervention shape peacebuilding in the Horn of Africa?
4. Given the current instability and crisis in the region, what preventative measures could/should the international community have taken? - Pranav

5. For Ms. Stigant:

1. Looking back at your time in South Sudan during a critical transitional period, what lessons have you learned about peace implementation? What are some of the biggest obstacles?
2. How can international organizations like USIP best support Africa-led initiatives without undermining local leadership?

6. For Mr. Woldemariam: (PRANAV)

1. In your book, you looked at the internal dynamics of rebel movements. How do those dynamics affect peace negotiations and long-term stability?
2. You’ve worked both in academia and policy—what are some gaps between scholarly insight and policy execution you’ve observed, especially in African conflict zones?

7. What advice would you offer undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in foreign policy? If there is one lesson you have taken away from your career thus far, what would it be?

Thank you for joining us today, and thank you for your contribution to The Outlook!

8. What trends are you currently seeing in terms of conflict prevention versus crisis response across the Greater Horn and Red Sea regions?