FULLY FUNDED Trip to Foreign Policy Conference Apply Now

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 13:48:17 -0400

UMBC has been invited to send one delegate to the 73rd Annual Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA), hosted by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. SCUSA 73 begins on the evening of Wednesday, November 2 and ends noon on Saturday, November 5.

IF YOU ARE SELECTED, YOUR COSTS FOR ATTENDING THIS CONFERENCE WILL BE FULLY COVERED.

TO APPLY: You must send a one- to two-paragraph message to Dr. Grodsky (bgrodsky@umbc.edu) explaining WHY you would be a good representative and your current YEAR/GPA. This must be received by 5pm on September 23.

From the organizers:

We are excited to announce a return to "normal" SCUSA! The largest and oldest conference of its type, SCUSA is an important means through which the United States Military Academy promotes civil-military engagement among future leaders. After a break in 2020 and a reduced SCUSA 72 last year due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis, SCUSA 73 will continue the tradition of developing future professional partnerships while discussing contemporary U.S. foreign policy challenges. The event will maintain our rich history as one of America's premier student conferences, including 60 cadet delegates and 200 undergraduate and graduate students from over 100 U.S. institutions of higher learning as well as international partners, and spanning numerous academic disciplines. Conference highlights include an opening senior panel discussion on the evening of November 2nd, a keynote address and banquet on November 3rd, four roundtable sessions, and a closing session on November 5th at which delegates will present recommendations for U.S. foreign policy developed during their roundtable sessions. Our keynote speaker this year is Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

SCUSA 73's theme is "American Foreign Policy in an Era of Polarized Politics and Revisionist Powers." America faces a mix of emerging and renewed obstacles to crafting effective and legitimate foreign policy. The evolving geopolitical environment increasingly challenges U.S. power and principles abroad. Domestically, American policymakers operate in a politically-charged and culturally-divided landscape, inhibiting compromise and effective policymaking while sometimes calling into question long-standing external commitments. In advancing its interests and values abroad, the United States encounters foreign powers seeking to revise or overturn existing international relationships, transnational institutions and norms, and even state boundaries. As familiar adversaries seek to alter regional balances in Europe and the Middle East, and as the challenge of China gathers momentum, America must act effectively and with lasting purpose to maintain its global leadership. Policymakers will continue to grapple with a challenging question: How should the United States safeguard its values and interests in an era of domestic political polarization and revisionist powers? At the 73rd Annual Class of 1971 Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA 73) delegates will evaluate a range of contemporary obstacles and opportunities to craft proposals for an effective and authoritative U.S. foreign policy. SCUSA 73 delegates will collaborate to develop policy proposals for the U.S. government that address the constraints of the domestic political arena and the challenges of a dynamic, uncertain strategic environment.