Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm was in her first week of Arabic language training at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, VA on the morning of September 11, 2001. A year earlier, she was working for the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, supporting efforts to push forward the Camp David II initiative which nearly brought peace to the region. The events of September 11, 2001 redefined diplomatic engagement in the Middle East and the experience of Micaela’s generation of U.S. Foreign Service Arabists (the officers who committed years of training to be proficient in Arabic). Micaela will recount her experiences, using her personal stories to reflect on wider developments in U.S. diplomacy in the region during this tumultuous decade.

This program is offered as a Camden Conference Community Event in anticipation of the 2026 conference, “Today’s Middle East: Power, Politics, & Players” February 20-22, 2026.