About Me

I am a senior at Northwestern University studying Russia’s relationship with the West at the intersection of international law and global business strategy.

Presently, I am working on my international studies honors thesis where I am exploring the impact of international embeddedness on a university’s ability to resist executive coercion.

Throughout my undergraduate studies I have authored papers on topics ranging from UK fiscal policy and US sanctions policy, to the ethics of targeted killings and Russia’s post-Soviet shifting power structures. You can see some of my essays here.

I recently completed an internship with Partner Community Capital, a CDFI in the Appalachian region, where I built a quantitative resilience model using financial, physical, and human metrics to measure and support long-term community resilience.

Outside of academics, I love taking aerial photography (have a look at my gallery), playing the saxophone and bike riding.

You can reach me at claytonmichaels1@gmail.com