Photo by: Elena Azzalini, 2022
In October 2022, during a trip to Europe, 16 LISD Student Associates traveled to Vienna and had the opportunity to engage with diplomats, NGOs and the private sector representatives, journalists, members of civil society and Ukrainian refugees. All of our interlocutors made their way to the old imperial city to live, work, and practice politics and diplomacy – both in its most formal and public conditions, as well as in Track II and private contexts. Highlights included a candid briefing on the challenges of sanctions on the individual as well as financial institutions; learning about the current status of high-level negotiations surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA); sitting in on a session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council; hearing from high-ranking current-serving Austrian officials; and receiving exclusive tours of grand historical spaces, usually off-limits to visitors outside of government, the diplomatic corps, or family.
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Dr. Johan Strobl, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), welcomed the group and shared candid and insightful remarks about the challenges of trade, commercial, and investment banking in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. [© Lauren Schwartz, 2022]
