Project: Negotiating the Compacts of Free Association: A Case Study in U.S.- Pacific Relations

Adviser: Ambassador (ret.) Alexander Arvizu, Director of the Donald F. McHenry Fellows Program, ISD; U.S. Ambassador to Albania (2010-2015) and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok (2004-2007)

Originally from the Greater Indianapolis area, Chendi Liu is a senior in the School of Foreign Service, with a concentration in international politics and a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Currently working at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Chendi is the coordinator for the U.S. Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security and a research assistant on the Gender Policy and Strategy team. While at Georgetown, she has worked as a legislative intern in the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer; a political and economic intern in the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and a women, peace, and security fellow with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. On campus, Chendi advocates for curriculum reform as the DEI Chair for the SFS Academic Council and works to increase access to international affairs education as a teaching fellow with the National Education Equity Lab. Her ISD project will focus on how evolving geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific region influenced the recent negotiations to renew the Compacts of Free Association.