On Individuals and Ideas with Laurel Rapp

Laurel Rapp is the Director of the U.S. and North America Programme at Chatham House, and she brings to this position all the wisdom and experience accrued through her nearly two decades of public service at the Department of State, the National Security Council, the United States Senate, and nonprofits.

Laurel began her international affairs career as a Rotary Fellow researching voting attitudes in Morocco at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and went on to join the State Department covering Middle East issues during the Arab Spring. She talks about what it was like being a new officer covering a geographically small but strategically important country like Bahrain at such a complex moment in history, and then goes on to share her thoughts a wide range of topics, from the role of the United Nations, to the function(s) served by the Secretary's Policy Planning staff. Finally, we take an unfiltered look at the uncomfortable but necessary tension existing when many unique individuals come together to advance (and sometimes question) shared objectives, and it was an absolute joy and honor to have Laurel join me to unpack these challenging topics.