A year in the US Alex Urwin (L’13)

Iultimately spent just shy of a year living in New York and studying at Columbia. I took classes ranging from the study of foreign policy and diplomacy to the political economy of climate, transatlantic economics, leadership in policymaking, and political economy courses on Russia and China, as well as evening classes on speechwriting, political communication, and political campaigning.

I wrote papers on vaccine diplomacy (which was picked up by a UK think tank), the ‘golden era’ of UK-China relations, New Labour, the UK’s response to climate change, and the manner in which Number 10 is organised for foreign policy (which was picked up by the Atlantic Council). I also wrote my thesis with one of Columbia’s top professors, Adam Tooze, and focused on the political economy of the UK’s relationships with China, the US, and Europe in the early 2010s. In the process of writing the thesis, I had the privilege of interviewing senior government ministers, David Cameron’s national security adviser, and Obama’s chief of staff and treasury secretary. I am still finishing my thesis, but I am due to graduate with a distinction.

Outside of the academic work, I managed to see a lot of the country - New Hampshire, Boston, Washington DC, Baltimore, and an amazing Christmas road trip around the deep south - and meet a lot of interesting people, many of whom I know I’ll continue to see well into the future.

The academic year finished at the end of May, with the university’s traditional commencement ceremony, attended by well over 10,000 students and guests, and which was addressed by Hillary Clinton, amongst others. I have attached a few photos.

Whilst I am hopeful of spending further time in New York, or elsewhere overseas, I have now returned to the UK to take up a short-term post in the Office of the COP President, where I am responsible for advising the COP President (Alok Sharma) on climate finance and business engagement, as well as acting as his speechwriter. The UK holds the presidency of COP - the United Nations’ conference on climate change - until COP27 in November, at which point it will be handed over to Egypt and I will look for the next opportunity.

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