This column is dedicated to all the interns at CFR and CSIS!!
Pssst… you, the lowly intern working at the DC think tank! Are you wondering why all the fellows seem so tense and grouchy? My latest column at TNI Online provides a partial explanation — the stress that comes with trying to get a government job: Election Day profoundly affects the lives, hopes and dreams of D.C. ...
Pssst... you, the lowly intern working at the DC think tank! Are you wondering why all the fellows seem so tense and grouchy? My latest column at TNI Online provides a partial explanation -- the stress that comes with trying to get a government job: Election Day profoundly affects the lives, hopes and dreams of D.C. policy people—in the form of what they might be doing for the next four years. For foreign-policy analysts, there are really only two states of being—being in charge of American foreign policy and desperately wanting to be in charge of American foreign policy. Read the whole thing. [So does this mean you're lobbying for an administration position? Is this why you decided to vote for Obama?--ed.] No and no. Like the president-elect, I have young children that are quite comfortable where they are. Unlike the president-elect, the government wouldn't be providing us swanky public housing if we moved to DC.
Pssst… you, the lowly intern working at the DC think tank! Are you wondering why all the fellows seem so tense and grouchy? My latest column at TNI Online provides a partial explanation — the stress that comes with trying to get a government job:
Election Day profoundly affects the lives, hopes and dreams of D.C. policy people—in the form of what they might be doing for the next four years. For foreign-policy analysts, there are really only two states of being—being in charge of American foreign policy and desperately wanting to be in charge of American foreign policy.
Read the whole thing. [So does this mean you’re lobbying for an administration position? Is this why you decided to vote for Obama?–ed.] No and no. Like the president-elect, I have young children that are quite comfortable where they are. Unlike the president-elect, the government wouldn’t be providing us swanky public housing if we moved to DC.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
More from Foreign Policy

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America
The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense
If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War
Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.