Around the Table with Christina Powell

Around the Table is a three-question interview series from the Make Room email newsletter. Each edition features a conversation with a peer in the national security community to learn about their expertise and experience in the sector.

Christina Powell is a career U.S. Diplomat currently serving in the 24/7 State Department Operations Center, and 2025 CNAS Next Gen National Security Fellow. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the U.S. State Department or U.S. government.

1. You’ve worked in many different countries. What’s one big lesson you’ve learned from working across cultures?

I have really come to appreciate the value of cultural immersion and how much you can learn from it. Every single time I have been abroad—whether living, working, or studying—I am amazed at how much I bring back home with me. On a personal level, this immersion has come from being intentional in learning different languages, embracing new foods, and forming relationships with people who live there. This has opened the door for me to learn more about different value-sets, ways of living, and thinking. In a professional capacity, I have worked face-to-face with host-nation counterparts, primarily in South America and the Middle East, and I always come out of those interactions with a fresh, more nuanced understanding of different world issues. Those encounters also make me eager to challenge myself to think outside the bounds of my own lived experience. Additionally, I believe the lens through which each of us views the world is shaped by our lived experiences, belief systems, and other environmental factors. So, when I put myself into a new environment, I make the conscious decision to go out of my way to interact with people from backgrounds and points of view different than my own, and subsequently use those experiences to broaden my own understanding of the world. I believe this is crucial to being able to approach national security challenges from a more creative and holistic standpoint.

2. Your work has covered a wide range of issues, from cybersecurity to human rights. How do you stay adaptable in such a dynamic field?

National security includes such a broad spectrum of issues ranging from domestic policy challenges to the most delicate foreign, bilateral relationships. Most of us have learned about the three “D’s” of national security, but I don’t think it can be overstated how important it is to balance elements of defense, diplomacy, and development in our approaches to foreign policy and national security. It is also important to think outside traditional definitions of threats to national security. So for me, remaining adaptable in such a dynamic field requires me to constantly challenge myself to think beyond the boundaries of traditional schools of thought on hard, sharp, and soft power. That is also something I love about my work—the Foreign Service allows me to dabble in a little bit of it all. Additionally, I am intentional in looking for opportunities to gain experience outside my own bubble of diplomacy, to diversify my own national security toolkit. This has made me a more well-rounded national security practitioner and positioned me to contribute more effectively to the rapidly changing security landscape we are currently in.

3. How does a change in presidential administration impact your work, and how do you prepare for potential shifts in policy?

With any change in political leadership, there is always going to be anticipated changes in policy, even in intra-party transitions in leadership. When I approach anything new, I always pivot back to my baseline. Reflecting on why you chose to serve and who you are serving can be incredibly grounding in times of transition. At this point in my career, I have served under multiple administrations, and each time I am amazed at my colleagues’ dedication to the American public, American people, and the U.S. Constitution. While some of the day-to-day might look different depending on the policies in place, the purpose of public service changes little. Personally, I make it a point to use the tools at my disposal and take advantage of every opportunity to further the values and issues that are important to me, congruent with the work I am entrusted to do. I am also constantly thinking about how to leverage my experience to positively impact and inform important policy decisions. I appreciate the act of public service as a constant in our democracy, and I am grateful for the role purpose-driven public servants have historically played in ensuring a sense of continuity in our government institutions.