What sparked your interest in inter-national security?
I have always been interested in other countries, languages and cultures. I couldn’t see myself becoming a teacher or translator, so looked for other ways to incorporate these interests into my career. Growing up in southern Germany in the 1990s and early 2000s, meeting refugees fleeing war after the break-up of Yugoslavia was my first introduction to the impact of conflict. To see how horrendous violence could break out after people had lived together in peace for such a long time, was a defining moment for me. The other was Europe’s changing relationship with Russia.
