[6] Barks-Ruggles studied for a year in France during college, and the experience convinced her to pursue a career in the U.S. Foreign Service.

[7] Barks-Ruggles joined The Brookings Institution in 2000 for a year, bringing her expertise on HIV/AIDS and its impact on African economies.

Her assignment included studying how HIV/AIDS affects the economies of South Africa, Nigeria, and Uganda and assessing the national security implications of the disease.

Following that assignment, Barks-Ruggles was the Deputy Head of the Political-Economic Section at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway from August 2001 to May 2004.

While she was fulfilling that role, it became public that her manager had pressured her to soften a critical report she has written about human rights issues in North Korea.