Half a World Away, Familiar Challenges
February 24, 2026
In December, Director of the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs Wiegand spent three weeks at Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU) in La Union, Philippines, as a Fulbright Specialist. Drawing on her expertise in public policy, governance, and Indo-Pacific security, she delivered lectures and keynote addresses and led intensive workshops on community resilience, peacebuilding, disaster preparedness, and climate adaptation. In total, she engaged more than 400 faculty members, administrators, students, and community leaders.
One lesson stood out: distance does not erase similarity. While the United States confronts hurricanes and the Philippines faces typhoons and flooding, communities in both countries wrestle with the same core questions of preparedness, recovery, and institutional resilience. Wiegand found that many U.S.-based frameworks could be meaningfully adapted abroad. The threats differed, but the governance challenges felt familiar.
That recognition shaped her approach. Conscious of the risks of arriving as an American scholar with presumed solutions, she positioned herself not as a prescriptive expert but as a facilitator of shared learning. She drew from U.S. and global best practices, encouraging participants to situate their own challenges within a broader international context.
Her philosophy was most evident in full-day interdisciplinary workshops that brought together faculty from forestry, agriculture, environmental science, communications, political science, public administration, and criminal justice. Using practical toolkits, participants tackled real-world problems such as flooding, political corruption, traffic congestion, and governance inefficiencies, and developed step-by-step action plans tailored to their communities. Each group left with concrete strategies, identified partners, and tools for continued implementation.
Her lectures coincided with the lead-up to the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, adding resonance to conversations about constitutional governance and institutional durability. In the Philippines, a former U.S. colony whose political system retains structural similarities to that of the United States, these discussions carried particular weight. At a time of visible political strain in the U.S., students and faculty expressed appreciation for dialogue about democratic resilience.
Wiegand’s expertise in Indo-Pacific security also took on new meaning in La Union, a coastal region bordering the South China Sea. Though she studies regional tensions at the strategic level, engaging with local fishing communities revealed their human dimension. “Fishermen are often arrested or prevented from fishing by Chinese officials,” she noted, reflecting on how geopolitical disputes directly affect livelihoods and local economies.
Beyond the classroom, Wiegand briefed the U.S. Embassy in Manila, sharing observations about public opinion, student perspectives, and the strength of people-to-people ties between the two countries. She also adapted quickly to a more formal academic culture, adjusting her teaching style to honor local norms and traditions.
The visit is already shaping future collaborations between the University of Tennessee and institutions in the Philippines in areas ranging from emergency management to agriculture and nuclear engineering.
For Wiegand, the experience was among the most rewarding of her career. Across continents and cultures, she saw the same determination: communities committed to strengthening their institutions and improving daily life. The context may change, but the work and the hope behind it remain shared.