Interview with History Alum Josh Kallmer (Stanford History Class of '95)

Josh Kallmer graduated from Stanford in 1995 with a B.A. in History and Public Policy. After receiving his J.D. from Georgetown University, he has held positions in a number of legal companies, nonprofits, and U.S. federal agencies, devising policies and leading international negotiations. Since May 2020, Josh has been working as Head of Global Public Policy and Government Relations at Zoom Video Communications.

Tell us about yourself and what you have been doing since your graduation. 
I have been privileged to have a professional path that has largely tracked what I have found most interesting and meaningful, which is to work in international public policy and help governments, private sector actors, NGOs, and others resolve disputes and negotiate agreements, primarily in the context of trade and investment, technology, and economic policy.

While I have been based in Washington since 1995, my career has been globally focused and I have spent a good deal of time traveling.  I spent a total of seven years at two law firms, practicing in the areas of international arbitration and international trade.  From 2004 to 2012, I worked at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), which is the White House agency responsible for negotiating trade agreements and resolving trade disputes with other countries.  That was my formative professional experience, as it plunged me into the world of trade negotiations and trade litigation.  Representing the United States in negotiations with other countries was both a thrill and a privilege.  It was also terrifying for a while until I gained confidence.  

Since 2015 I have been doing international public policy in the technology space, first with an organization, the Information Technology Industry Council, that represents the world’s largest tech firms as a whole, and most recently (since the beginning of the pandemic!) with Zoom.  Both jobs have been given me a window into some of the most interesting social and political issues of our time, including how the United States and China manage their great power competition; how we craft international norms around innovations such as AI; and how we protect privacy, security, and safety, while ensuring that companies can innovate and create jobs for their societies.

How did you decide to major in History at Stanford?
I don’t exactly know why, other than that I had enjoyed history during my short life and had a wonderful experience my first year with David Kennedy, Jim Sheehan, and Alexander Dallin.  Both opened my eyes to what “real” history was and helped bring to life the experiences that not just states and political entities, but also people and societies, were going through.  That deep interest became a fascination during my sophomore year, when I took classes from Jack Rakove and Norman Naimark.  I am sure that the times in which we were living – with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union book-ending this period of time – had something to do with it, especially in cementing the love affair I developed with German, Eastern European, and Russian history.

How did you decide to write your honor’s thesis, The Economics of Ostpolitik: West German Perceptions of the East German Economy (1969-1989)?
I spent the winter, spring, and summer of 1993 in Berlin, both at the Stanford Bing Overseas Center and then doing an externship at the Aspen Institute.  The experience was a daily education in what German unification meant in practical terms.  One of the most compelling lessons was that people really did not appreciate just how big were the economic gaps between the two sides.  I became fascinated by that distance between perception and reality, which actually made coming up with a thesis topic relatively straightforward.

My research and writing process had no great anecdotes or “Aha!” moments.  I struggled initially to develop a solid methodology for carrying it out.  I think it was Mr. Sheehan who encouraged me to anchor my research to a single source or publication and to follow that publication over time to see how its analysis of the East German economy evolved, changed, or remained the same.  I selected Deutschland Archiv, a West German publication largely dedicated to analysis of the East German political, economic, and social model.  I was very grateful for his advice!

Digital communication companies are now described as one of the most important global actors in the 21st century. What is one major issue that such companies are grappling with now? If you channel your “inner Stanford Historian”, how do you think historical thinking (or approaches) can help them better understand and tackle it? 
I think that statement has a lot of truth to it, but I also think it can overstate the importance of private actors in relation to sovereign states.  The main issue that technology companies are grappling with now is how to operate across borders in seamless ways to allow people to connect and collaborate, but to do so in a context of individual legal jurisdictions, all of which are appropriately pursuing their own national (or sub-national) aims.  Different jurisdictions perceive their values and interests differently, of course, and those differences naturally become reflected in very disparate domestic laws and regulations.  In some ways that is appropriate, as different societies should be permitted to pursue their own priorities around privacy, or free speech, or national security, or whatever.  In other ways, though, the differences do not (in my view) reflect valid differences in policy priorities but are instead designed to protect local firms, discriminate against certain kinds of business people, or reduce data security.

Having a firm grounding in history has definitely helped me navigate these intellectual challenges. The kind of collective action problems we are facing now have some unique features, but we have seen analogues before. We have always had the challenge of adapting world-changing technologies to norms and rules that are culturally and geographically differentiated and may be in tension or even conflict with one another.  I wrote an article six years ago that discussed this paradox.  I think the core arguments hold true now, even though the technology landscape has changed somewhat with the advances in AI and other emerging technologies.

You are an experienced lawyer, prolific strategist, and an accomplished technologist. How has your History training helped you in your career?
The one consistent thread throughout my career has been that it has involved working with governments around the world to resolve disputes and forge agreements.  I frequently observe how my background in, and love for, history informs my approach to doing so.  It of course helps me understand the specific perspectives and worldviews that people from different parts of the world bring to the table.  It provides precedents and examples of how analogous decisions taken earlier in time have turned out, to help me avoid mistakes or fall into traps.  And it helps me envision the “alternate possibilities” that could come from various decisions, which seems to be one of the main things that the study of history is all about. 

Your diverse career trajectory challenges the pervasive fuzzy vs. techie stereotypes on the Farm. How have you dealt with such assumptions while pursuing your B.A. and after your graduation?
I have had a great career but I think it has leaned somewhat in the “fuzzy” direction.  I try to keep pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone and learn more about STEM subjects.  I’m not sure I do a very good job.  Being in Washington, DC and working in international public policy definitely creates a bias towards a more “fuzzy” existence.  That said, one of the most satisfying things I’ve experienced is helping policy leaders understand what drives businesses, what motivates business leaders, how they create jobs and innovation, and what the incentive structures are that they face every day.  

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were an undergraduate?
I would tell the 22-year old version of myself the following:

• Take time to try to understand what makes you happy and fulfilled, and what you’re good at.  (Hopefully they’re the same!)  This should be the anchor of everything you do professionally.  And it’s ok if it changes over time.
• Position yourself in professional environments that check a lot of those boxes.
• Don’t worry about landing the dream job.  Focus instead on getting to know as many people in the field as you can.
• Take chances; reach out to strangers or colleagues you don’t know that well and ask them about their work and the field more generally.  Look for opportunities to support their work.  People love to help and remember what it’s like to be at the beginning of one’s career.  People love to be mentors.  
• Build your network brick by brick, on the basis of genuine interactions around shared interests.  
• Take a long view.  Even if you go years without talking to someone, they still could be a source of support and insight for you.  Stay in touch with people.
• Do not be transactional or fake.  People will know right away. 
• With each professional experience, try to ensure you are “coming out of the wider end of the funnel,” meaning that the experience will open up more opportunities in the field.  
• Take risks.  Make mistakes.  But always keep what makes you happy and fulfilled and that you’re good at as your north star.
• What is one memory that you have about your time in the History Department? (e.g. experiences with faculty members, or courses that left a profound impact)? 

What is one memory that you have about your time in the History Department?
I have a lot of great memories of the History Department.  One that left a lasting impact was Mr. Sheehan’s class on 20th century Germany, which I took my senior year.  He has a special ability to convey what it felt like at the time, how people understood the times in which they were living, how they sought meaning, how they grasped for hope.  I still have my notebook from that class and every once in a while will read through it to take myself back to that quarter.