From Panama to the Orange Bubble to Negotiating with Terrorists, with Rachael Greenberg ‘14

So I think where we want to start this conversation is about an article that I found you had played a role in writing while you were at Princeton.

You said that while you were at Princeton, you talk about the danger of living inside the orange bubble of losing sight of people facing hardships outside of it.

More than a decade later, so much of your career has focused on vulnerable and underserved populations.

Where do you think that instinct began? Do you think that was in your time at Panama? Was it at Princeton? Where did it come from? Maybe talk us through that kind of through line from, I guess, birth to now.

First off, so

impressed with y'all's talking abilities.

That is a deep question.

In the whole of my writing history, if you will.

But actually, as you were saying it, I couldn't agree more with my younger self in that.

And just earlier today I was speaking to some administrators here at Princeton and later today I'll be speaking at Robertson Hall and with the Dean of SPIA.

And that's basically the theme of a lot of what I'm on campus to share is that when we come to Princeton I think because of how incredible it is to be on campus, to have these resources, to be surrounded by the brightest, most impressive people, we tend to feel like we're in a bubble.

And that bubble, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you see it, it's not going to really stay with us after our Princeton experience.

And I think we have an obligation as alumni and also I think the administration and professors here at Princeton to really try to inform the student body about the joy of being a part of this bubble, the privilege of being a part of this bubble, and also not to forget that this bubble doesn't expand beyond Princeton's campus.

And so we have to be good citizens, we have to be good humans, and we have to be aware and alert of our surroundings.

especially in the work that I was recently doing in hostage affairs and hostage negotiation, where one of our key cases was a Princeton Ph.D. student in Iraq.

And so, you know, studying for her Ph.D., doing a lot of research in Iraq, focused on women, a dual national background.

You think maybe you think twice about going to a country like Iraq and studying such a sensitive topic coming from a background like a Princeton PhD student.

So I think that my younger self was probably looking at it more through the lens of having grown up in the Republic of Panama and really seeing that You know, there are so many disadvantaged individuals around the world, and we are in the nation's service and in the service of humanity.

And so what are we really doing at Princeton and after Princeton to ensure that we're carrying that forward? And certainly my work at USAID, my work at the White House was always focused on women's empowerment and workforce development.

And even today in health care, thinking about the Medicare and Medicaid populations that are so vulnerable here in the United States.

So I'm kind of proud of my younger self for thinking about that.

But certainly that's the key takeaway I have coming to campus this time is really to create that sense of urgency to really not only give back, but be aware of the privilege that we have being here in the orange bubble.