Dale Satre

Dale Satre (he/him)  studies International Relations at Stanford. Within his IR major, he specializes in Economic Development/World Economy and East & South Asia. He spoke with us about what sparked his interest in IR, his favorite IR class, recent articles he has written, future career goals, and more!

What sparked your interest in IR?

I am a nontraditional student so I was in middle school when the Great Financial Crisis happened. I was interested in economics and the financial system since I was seeing it in the news all the time, and it was a goal for me to work for. I continued my interest in high school and started reading Foreign Affairs, so I sought to study international relations and economics. I then spent 6 years in Army intelligence with assignments in South Korea, which is where I solidified my desire to study economics and international politics. I sought to evolve from just analyzing events to driving them.

 What is your favorite IR class so far and why?

My two favorite classes were Dr. Dasher’s EASTASN 297 class, Rebalancing Economic Systems in a World Driven by Tech: Quality-of-Life in Socio-Cultural Context. After my first quarter in 2020 which was quite frankly disasterous, this course was refreshing for being an opportunity to lean into the stuff that got me initially interested during the Army: southeast Asian economies and their interconnected relations. The course was a great overview of the different economies in the SE Asian region and the challenges facing them.

 Tell us about your recent publications/articles.

 I have published two papers in my last quarter here. My first publication was over a year in the making. I have an fascination in the Cold War from my time in Korea, and how Asia was affected by the Cold War. I wanted to do something original for my Cold War class term paper with Dr. Robert Rakove, and I was reminiscing on my past experience with the intelligence services, so I decided to do the first academic study of the KGB’s operations in China during the Cold War. It was tough because there was almost no literature to go off of and the body of the thesis depended on (uncorroborated) documents from Soviet defectors, but despite these constraints this is the best picture available of that history. After its desk acceptance at the Columbia Journal of Asia, I worked with editors for two months to strengthen the argument, trim unnecessary components, and enhance the rigor of the paper. I think what came out of that process was a great piece of work, and I am proud of it for combining my background with the intelligence services to my interests in the Cold War. Funny enough, U.S. intelligence agencies today face similar challenges in trying to collect actionable intelligence from China, so at least they can be aware of past analytical biases and mistakes from their Cold War rivals at the KGB, and know to avoid them. https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cja/article/view/11059

My second paper was on weaponized interdependence and payment systems, which combined my interests in cross border finance and international relations. I was particularly interested in the “soft power” that the United States wields with its financial system, its currency, and its power to sanction. Having interned twice at a digital assets investment firm, I was also aware that central banks around the world are pursuing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for the purposes of financial inclusion, ease of cross border transaction… and potentially creating avenues outside the American financial system.

I was lucky enough to have been referred to Dr. Darrell Duffie at the GSB in 2022 through a friend. He is a world renowned professor of finance also interested in cross border issues, and for the next two years we corresponded about CBDCs and other cross border finance issues. Last summer, I visited the Council on Foreign Relations and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to discuss these issues. Dr. Duffie and I decided to do a directed reading project last quarter, and the end result is one of my proudest achievements. I looked at the historical case study of the British financial empire pre-WWI and how it weaponized its capabilities in WWI, and also looked at the history of American sanctions and where that might go. Lastly, I took a look at the current progress in researching CBDCs, their viability to go around U.S. sanctions, and options that U.S. policymakers have to lessen that impact. That paper is now on SSRN, and made SSRN’s “Top 10” lists in my paper’s respective categories. http://ssrn.com/abstract=4798504

What are your future career goals?

 I am passionate about finance and hope to have a private sector career in that area. However, I feel most compelled to run for public office. Civic participation and leadership has always been important to me as a kid, and I feel a responsibility to represent my people and their interests. I’d like to focus on foreign policy and fiscal policy. Both areas will determine the future standing of our country and our quality of life. Wherever I end up living (hopefully NYC!), I will get involved.

 Is there anything else you’d like to share with the IR community?

 Take advantage of the flexible nature of the IR Program to explore your interests, but find something you like and go as deep as you possibly can in it with academics, personal projects, reading, etc. That is how I got the most out of my time here!