Jennifer Schwesig, 38, heads the international practice group of Armstrong Teasdale, a firm in Clayton housed in the new silver Centene Building. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Shanghai office and helping clients overseas. That means she’s away about three months a year. She’s the only woman at the firm to lead a group at the firm.

Her educational pedigree includes a bachelor of arts in African history from Kenyon College, a law degree from Washington University and a master’s in international law from Georgetown University Law Center. She’s married to Kevin Mallick, a lawyer with the Social Security Administration, and lives in University City. She is a lifelong member of Shaare Emeth.

We talked recently in a sleek, 18th-floor conference room of the law firm.

Why did you major in African history?

Apartheid fascinated me in high school. I was very troubled by apartheid in South Africa. As a member of the Jewish people, I believed this is not something we condone. 

My senior thesis in college was on the marketing and sale of racial ideology at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Civilized people were defined by their technology, and Africans were more defined by their humanity. When you walked around the fair in 1904, you passed all the primitive peoples who were defined by their humanity and then you ended up in the “white city,” which represented “civilization.” 

You travel a lot. Have you ever been to Africa?

No. I was supposed to go to South Africa in 1994, but that was the year South Africa had its election that made Nelson Mandela president. I worked for the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. I was writing about the election for our publications.

Apartheid is a term some people apply to how Israel governs the Palestinians. Is that an appropriate term?

I have two views on that. I understand why the territory [of the West Bank] was attacked by Israel [in the 1967 Six-Day War]. There are artificial boundaries there established by the British. And I understand the right to self-determination.

Israel faces a threat. There are two right sides to this. 

What does the international practice group do?

International law is divided into two types. There is human rights law, treaties, the laws of war. And there is the private side, businesses going overseas.

We make sure our clients comply with U.S. laws and treaties and export controls. For instance, we make sure our client companies do not sell arms overseas without a license. We watch out for items that can be converted from civilian to military use. We help them comply with sanctions and embargoes the U.S. has imposed.

Do you travel in the Arab world? Do you cover your head with a hijab?

The only place in the Arab world I have been is Dubai, and I was not covered. I dress like I do here. I genuinely believe in God, and I believe in Judaism. I will not go to Saudi [Arabia]. I am a woman, so I would not be the best one to go there. 

Where do you often travel?

I go to Asia. I visit factories owned by our clients to make sure they are complying with U.S. law. I enjoy Singapore a lot. It’s a very clean Hong Kong. We go to China and India. And we do a lot of work in Latin America: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile.

But not the Middle East?

We work in Israel. It’s big in pharmaceuticals, high-tech and software.

Can St. Louis make it as a hub for imports, say from China, as in the so-called China hub?

If you’re an inbound investor [from abroad], this area would be very good. One thing we have here is clean food sources. In China, they have so much pollution. And their farms are small. They are worried that they will not have enough to feed their people. 

We have land, space, the resources, and they have a growing interest in things like organic food. We need to have a way to ship fresh goods, which need to go by air. Do you know what two countries are the two largest importers of carp? China, of course, and Israel — for gefilte fish.

You got your masters in law in Washington, D.C. Why did you come back here?

This city is one of the best. There is so much competition in D.C. among international lawyers. There are a lot of international companies here, like Emerson, Boeing, Monsanto. But there are a lot of small companies here too. We help them navigate when they want to go abroad.

How do you get the word out about the service you offer?

We do a lot of seminars. We write about what we do. We have our reputation.

What do you think about the way the U.S. conducts itself abroad, say regarding the NATO operation against Libya? 

I may be too idealistic. We’re a country that likes to apply its laws extraterritorially. If a government does things inside its own country, like the crimes against humanity in places like Sudan or Congo, that sends refugees into other countries. We should do something to stop that. We don’t learn the lessons of history.

I am satisfied that what President Obama has done about Libya is all right from a legal standpoint. But this gets into the issue of a country’s sovereignty.

What’s your view of what some would argue is a great violation of sovereignty, the U.S. raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden?

I support what was done. Osama bin Laden had created a terrorist network that created global instability. But you know, his death may create many little bin Ladens. 

Did we violate the government of Pakistan’s sovereignty? Yes.

Were we justified? Yes.