Overall, the course trains students: • To assess the factors of a political environment relevant to policy advocacy and engagement. • To anticipate the issues and challenges that may arise when they are engaged in the policymaking process in different domestic political environments; • To recognize the competing interests and strategic alternatives that surround any issue, particularly in different domestic policy environments, and why this recognition is a necessary complement to issue analysis; • To improve their written and oral communication skills; • To work in teams; and • To understand the policymaking environments of countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in comparative perspective with the United States.