We chatted with Julie Thompson-Gomez, who just joined us here at the John Quincy Adams Society’s headquarters. Julie will work with JQAS members and help kickstart their careers in U.S. foreign policy.

What are you most excited about in your new role?

I am most excited for great discussions with the JQAS network! I’m happy to chat about career paths or offer advice on graduate schools. I also look forward to discussing and debating important foreign policy topics from realist and restraint perspectives.

What opportunities do you see for our professional network?

My goal is to develop JQAS’s abilities to connect members to jobs that will promote realism and restraint in foreign policy and to accelerate their careers by keeping members networked with one another. You can have a career in foreign policy and believe in realism and restraint!

What books on U.S. foreign policy have most influenced your career?

The two books that have most influenced my thinking about my career and U.S. foreign policy are They Knew They Were Right, which is about the neoconservative movement and how it influenced U.S. foreign policy up to 9/11, and The Wizards of Armageddon, which recounts the development of American thinking about nuclear strategy through most of the Cold War. I like these books because they deal with “how” questions—how did neocons come to dominate U.S. foreign policy? How did the United States decide that the best way to defeat the Soviet Union was to build tens of thousands of nuclear weapons? The short answer to both those questions is that particular people in certain positions at pivotal moments made all the difference. In other words, the right people in the right place at the right time can have a huge impact! At JQAS, I hope to help those of us who prefer a grand strategy characterized by realism and restraint to find and grow in careers that are fulfilling and make a difference.

What new hobbies have you picked up since WFH began?

Watching a lot of The Great British Bake Off inspired me to try gluten-free baking. After many hours in the kitchen, I can bake good gluten-free cookies but everything else is hit-or-miss. I won’t be trying out for American baking shows anytime soon! I also played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons—my husband and I even co-wrote our own campaign to teach friends how to play on an online platform. Going on walks around my neighborhood quickly became a favorite part of my evening routine, especially if I followed it up with a bowl of Blue Bell ice cream.