February 2, 2020
October 2019: Texas A&M University The Bush School of Government & Public Service students led by Associate Professor Gabriela Thornton visited Latvia. The BSF team organized meetings with They met with Parliamentary Secretary Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Advisor to the Minister Gunda Reire, Second Secretary of the American and the Carribean Division Egils Leimanis and Third Secretary of NATO and European Security Policy Division Linda Jaunaraja-Janvare, learning more about Latvia in the international arena, priorities of national and European foreign policy, and discussed the factors that determine the local security perception.
They concluded the program by participating in the Riga Conference 2019. They met and discussed their research on Latvia with the President of the Republic of Latvia Egils Levits at the Riga Conference 2019 Gala reception.
Students returned to complete their Capstone Class and prepare a presentation to the Atlantic Council and a publication together with BSF, raising scholarly awareness of top regional security issues and considering possible solutions.
The Young Leaders Mobility Program was made possible in cooperation with the BAFF - Baltic-American Freedom Foundation, The Jamestown Foundation and the Latvian Political Science Association.