Meet Our Summer 2026 Intern Class

Lee Block

Program: Eurasia

Lee Block recently graduated from the Master of Science in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University. His studies focused on the foreign policies of the United States and Russia. Before Georgetown, Lee served as a geopolitical risk consultant at APCO, where he advised Fortune 500 C-suites on geopolitical dynamics and risk mitigation amid major dislocations, including the RussiaUkraine War and the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee graduated from American University with a BA in International Relations and Russian Language.

 

Maxwell Chosed

Program: National Security

Maxwell is a rising junior at Swarthmore College, double-majoring in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics and Statistics. His interests in foreign policy focus on China-US relations and public diplomacy. Maxwell has previously worked at RAND, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, and a public-interest law nonprofit in his hometown, New York City. On campus, Maxwell competes on Swarthmore’s Mock Trial team and is a writer and editor for the Tri-Co Undergraduate Law Review.

 

Tareque Chowdhury

Program: Eurasia

Tareque is a rising junior at the University of Pennsylvania, studying Russia and Eastern European Studies and Political Science with a concentration in International Relations. Originally from Philadelphia, he conducts open-source research on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its implications for European rearmament, transatlantic relations, and U.S. national security. In the future, he hopes to continue researching European and transatlantic security, expand his knowledge of the region, and further develop his skills in conflict analysis.

 

Teddy King-Pollet

Program: Eurasia

Teddy is a rising junior at Swarthmore College, where he majors in Political Science with a minor in History. His academic interests include US-Russian relations, the transatlantic relationship, comparative healthcare policy, and the history of the Soviet Union. He previously served as a legislative intern in the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren. He grew up in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Cambridge, England.

 

Sascha Mizelle

Program: National Security

Sascha Mizelle is a Junior at Swarthmore College, studying Political Science and Russian with a focus on International Relations and the Russian language. They also have worked alongside the Swarthmore debate team and Gender & Sexuality Center. In their free time, they enjoy riding horses, reading Russian literature, watching motorsports, and listening to musicals.

 

Jackson Owen

Program: Asia

Jackson Owen is a graduating senior at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in International Relations and History. His undergraduate thesis examined the soft power implications of USAID cuts for the United States and China in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, he has conducted research for the World Bank, Penn Development Research Initiative-DevLab, and the Indo-Pacific Forum. His primary interests are Chinese development policy and cross-strait relations.

 

Niklas Romberg

Program: Eurasia

Niklas is a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania studying International Relations with a minor in European Studies. Originally from Germany, with part of his family from Romania, he is interested in transatlantic relations, the impact of the war in Ukraine on Europe, and European populism. At Penn, he is president of the German Society and a Perry World House Student Fellow. After college, he plans to pursue a master’s degree in public policy and eventually work as a diplomat for the German government.

 

Bram Wells

Program: Asia

Bram Wells is a rising junior at Johns Hopkins University pursuing an accelerated bachelor’s and master’s degree in international relations. As part of his master’s degree program, Bram will spend one year at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Nanjing, China, followed by one year at SAIS in Washington, D.C. He currently writes for the Johns Hopkins Foreign Affairs Review, with published articles on US-Chinese competition for critical minerals in the DRC and on the strategic implications of Myanmar’s Junta election. Bram’s international relations specialization is China and Southeast Asia, and he is currently studying advanced-level Mandarin.

 

Annie Zi Qing Zhou

Program: Asia

Annie Zhou is a rising sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying Economics and Political Science with a concentration in International Relations. Her research interests include Indo-Pacific geopolitics, U.S.-China relations, economic statecraft, defense strategy, and US foreign policy. She has conducted research on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, economic development, and international security. She is also the global branch deputy lead at the Penn Policy Consulting Group, where she has contributed to policy research for the World Bank and will be leading a policy project next fall.