The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2022 65 AFSA NEWS 2022 AFSA Strategic Writing Award Winner: Kevin Murakami Kevin Murakami, an econom- ics-coned Foreign Service officer, is this year’s winner of AFSA’s StrategicWriting Award (formerly known as the George KennanWriting Award). AFSA presented the award at a June 3 ceremony at the National War College in Washington, D.C. AFSA offers the award each year to Foreign Service graduates of the National War College whose research projects and writing have demonstrated excellence throughout the year. Murakami said he was honored to receive the award. “I always admired George Kennan for his intellect, pre- science and candor,” he said. “Prior to joining the Foreign Service, I worked in Russia during the initial decade after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. At the time, I always paid close attention to Ken- nan’s insights into Moscow’s strategic thinking as the U.S. and Russia tried to work out a post–Cold War relation- ship.” Assigned to the National War College for the past year, Murakami elected to pursue an independent research project in addition to the strategic research paper every student must write. His award-winning inde- pendent project paper is titled “Back to Basics: Rene- gotiating and Implementing Economic Assistance of the Compacts for Free Associa- tion.” Murakami told the FSJ that he chose the topic “because I have long viewed the South Pacific as flying under the radar a bit in terms of its strategic importance to the United States. Given that the U.S. is currently undertaking renegotiations with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau on the economic terms of the compacts, which soon expire, the outcome of these nego- tiations has taken on more importance than ever before.” Murakami’s paper takes into account the Chinese government’s increasing assertiveness in the South Pacific, the existential threat of climate change to the region, the growing impact of migration from these coun- tries on the United States, and the expansion of U.S. space operations there. When researching the paper, he interviewed those involved with the original compact negotiations in the 1980s, economists focused on the region and former Government Accountability Office officials who con- ducted audits into U.S. eco- nomic assistance over the compacts’ 35-year span. “I also researched execu- tive orders and Department of State documents related to the original compacts, which helped form some of the recommendations for the paper,” he said.“I admit it was a rather heavy lift, as I undertook this project con- currently with my practicum and strategy research paper focused on another region. But developing this paper was one of the highlights of my academic experience at the War College.” Murakami joined the State Department in 2004. He is currently deputy director of the international narcotics and law enforcement section at Embassy Bogotá. He previ- ously served as economic counselor at Embassy Mexico City and as the State Depart- ment’s acting deputy coordi- nator for Cuban affairs. Overseas, Murakami has served as the political-econ- omic section chief at U.S. Con- sulate General Rio de Janeiro and as the public affairs section chief in Karachi. Other tours include Bogotá and Baghdad. InWashington, D.C., he served as special assistant in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and as a desk officer in the Bureau of Near East Affairs. Before joining the For- eign Service, he worked in Japan as a vocational college instructor and as a congres- sional and public liaison for Embassy Moscow. In addition to his recent master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College, he also earned a master’s degree fromGeorgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a bachelor’s degree in international rela- tions from the University of California, Davis. His foreign languages include Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese. Murakami has an 8-year-old son and is a certified whitewa- ter kayak instructor. n 2022 AFSA Strategic Writing Award winner Kevin Murakami (center) poses with AFSA State Vice President TomYazdgerdi (left) and Commandant of the War College Air Force Brigadier General Jeffrey Hurlbert at the National War College’s award ceremony inWashington, D.C., on June 3. NATIONALDEFENSEUNIVERSITY/ERIKTHOMAS