Secure the Blessings of Liberty

>> David Arulanantham: My name is David Arulanantham, I have been a foreign service officer with the US Department of State for 19 years, and I'm currently a National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution. The story of how I got here is not unique to America, but it is uniquely American.

My family moved to the United States when I was seven years old, fleeing the civil war in Sri Lanka, which tore the country apart. Like many immigrants before us, our lives were upended, and my parents worked hard to reinvent themselves in their new land. Our family traces its roots to the northern tip of Sri Lanka, we now have branches all over the world.

From my childhood, I was interested in foreign languages and other cultures, though I did not realize it at the time. The trauma and displacement our family experienced as we left our country of origin deepened that interest. In school and at college, I was drawn to history, political science, and foreign affairs.

At home, my parents emphasized values such as good citizenship, instilling in me the importance of an informed public and the need to engage constructively with others to shape the world around us. We discussed current events and ideas regularly, and I came to better understand just how unique the United States of America is.

How the liberty that we can depend on every day is rare around the world and throughout history. After graduating from Stanford, like many of my peers, I ventured into the private sector. Working for the government was the furthest thing from my mind at the time, but a downturn in the economy in early 2000 forced me to reevaluate my priorities and change the course I was on.

I continued my passion for foreign affairs in grad school, specializing in international relations, and met others who shared similar interests and a commitment to public service. I saw opportunities to promote the ideals and values that I knew were so sorely needed around the world, I joined the foreign service to live and work abroad to do exactly that.

I've remained in the State Department all these years because it speaks to a higher mission and sense of purpose. If you want to work on complex foreign policy issues and further the national interest, there really is no other place to do that. Every foreign service officer takes an oath to defend the constitution and live by the values enshrined in the document, among them the charge to secure the blessings of liberty.

This solemn duty transcends borders as we use diplomacy and international cooperation not only to safeguard freedoms for our fellow citizens, but also to foster conditions where these values can flourish globally. Looking back, each step of my journey, from the upheaval in Sri Lanka to the conversations around our dinner table in California to the State Department has been guided by these values.

I have spent the majority of my career working on US policy towards the Indo-Pacific region, even representing the United States on an official assignment in my land of origin. My background allows me to connect more effectively with the people and cultures of the region, strengthening our foreign policy.

Moreover, my family's experience has made me realize that our country's strengthen it's not just in the hard interests we seek to promote, but also our values and ideals. Brand America, as a senior Australian diplomat once called it. This is what draws people from all over the world and gives me hope for the future.

As I reflect on nearly two decades of service, I remain as committed as ever to this mission, bolstered by the belief that our collective efforts can and do make a difference.