Lauren Bleakney, 2013, Woodrow Wilson School
I interned with Professor Robert Keohane of the Wilson School on a policy paper entitled, “The Punctuated Equilibrium in the Energy Regime Complex.” I was given a fascinating opportunity to contribute additional research to the paper on Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) history, specifically on periods of dissatisfaction and innovation. I also worked with Professor Keohane and his two co-authors to restructure the underlying theoretical outline of how institutions innovate in the face of varying levels and types of dissatisfaction as well as contributing to the robustness of definitions used in the paper concerning interdependence of institutions involved in the energy regime complex. From this internship, I learned the intricacies of the oil industry as well as the process of developing a paper for journal publication.