TIU Students Attended the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea with Prof. Jeffrey Ordaniel

Behind the Scenes: A Student’s Perspective on the Manila Dialogue

(by Michal Aurstad)

The Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea gave us a great insight into how policy experts and diplomats discuss geopolitical issues in a large space and with participants from all over the world. We were there mainly to ensure a smooth and successful dialogue by solving logistical problems, creating IDs for participants, providing the moderators with time-taking, communicating with the hotel staff, and attending to the requests by media, participants, or observers.

We are greatly indebted to Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel for letting us participate in organizing this event, as this will help us in our future careers and also create more realistic expectations of the world of IR. There were five different students, 1 Graduate and 4 Undergraduate students. Two of us (Quan and I) are doing this as part of Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel’s Asia Maritime Index (TIU Maritime Security Research Lab), where we are research assistants. The three girls, Maria Kloster Nilsen, Chiquita Widjaya, and Trisha Florencia, got the opportunity to join as volunteers through the TIU IRSA since Dr. Ordaniel asked for volunteers from the club.

Our group connected through this shared experience, and we formed a tight bond that will be valuable to us in the future. It was an unforgettable experience and something most undergraduate students won’t have the chance to experience.