MA, International Relations, Africa, Diplomacy

Still only 22, I am a young woman originally from Ghana who has worked very hard to arrive at this point where I am ready to begin graduate school here in the USA. Enormously dedicated to the study of both International Relations and language, I put a lot of extra effort in fulfilling the requirements for an undergraduate degree in French as well as IR. Of course, looking forward to a long and productive future doing research in international relations and development in the context of Africa, French is nearly indispensable to the researcher who wants to pursue and develop multi-lingual, cosmopolitan approaches to the many complex challenges faced by African countries together, French and Portuguese as well as English-speaking Africa.

 I have been preparing myself for years now, both in terms of my education and also my professional experience to attend graduate school in the area of international relations and international business. I especially look forward to studying international investment and finance, the international economy and its interconnected aspects, especially the common economic difficulties largely shared by most or all African countries, especially with the recent global economic crises, and issues of diplomacy and conflict resolution. I wish to become a International Relations professional by studying in your exceptional program so that I can fulfill my dream of someday working for the United Nations, or as a member of a diplomatic corps, where I can make the most valuable contribution possible to the maintenance of peaceful and productive relations between Africa and other developing areas of the world, on the one hand, and the developed world on the other. Diplomacy is my first love, and I avidly stay abreast of world news, always with a special eye to economic developments and how they bode for the future. I am tragically disappointed about by the economic record of 2008 and hope to be part of a new generation of African leadership that will measure up to the great need at hand for creativity thinking about seemingly intractable problems that never seem to go away, especially in Africa, pestilence, disease, wars, civil wars, mercenary insurgencies, epidemics, critically underfunded and unsuccessful movements in education, to name a few areas.

 Those of us native Africans who have mastered both English and French rather than just one or the other, are a small group with a great deal to offer in the area of diplomacy, and at 22 I have the youthful vigor to further enhance my technical fluency in IR literature in both languages. It is important to have young African voices in IR departments, and I have clearly worked very hard and have demonstrated that I am a zealous student with an my international background and a critically developed global perspective, especially in terms of educational achievement, which I see as central to long term and sustainable progression towards just diversity and racial equality—to some extent--in a world of dwindling resources. My optimism sets me apart, the incessant, incorrigible smile, and radiant industriousness; I distinguish myself as a hard worker.

 I am hoping that you will see my promise as a result of my expertise through academic preparation in the area of foreign relations and the great passion that I have for constructively addressing the many complex relationships and challenges facing international relations professionals in this age of profound economic crises, suffering, and anxiety. Africa is in need of a new generation of young leadership in order to be able to chart and efficient course in the murky waters of finding and enhancing African autonomy, at the same time that African economic collaboration is also greatly expanded.

 The world economic crises of 2008—continuing unabated into 2009—its impact on Africa—is for me the burning issue of the time and the central area of focus of my own intellectual endeavors. I look forward to doing extensive and rigorous research in your program so as to master the full gambit of a variety of intellectual disciplines and schools of thinking, paradigms such as liberalism, realism, constructivism, etc), testing for what appears to be the most suitable theory for this age of terrorism and growing economic unrest. I very much appreciate your consideration of my application and it is my sincere hope to be able to meet with you and contribute to the beautiful celebration of diversity taking place in IR at XXXX University.