Chester A. Crocker

Schlesinger Program in Strategic Studies

In April of 1998, the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy celebrated its 20th anniversary by inaugurating the James R. Schlesinger Program in Strategic Studies.

This program recognizes the distinguished public career of Dr. James R. Schlesinger and his remarkable contributions to national security policymaking and strategic thought. It supports the research of the Institute and the teaching and research of a foreign affairs practitioner in the School of Foreign Service. The central goal of the Schlesinger Program is to be to draw attention to the need for a strategic vision in the formulation of foreign policy and diplomacy.

Dr. Chester A. Crocker, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, was named the inaugural James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies. Dr. Crocker's writings and teaching focus on international conflict management and mediation and U.S. statecraft in zones of conflict.

From the Report:

Unless the U.S. is able to regain international credibility in terms of democracy promotion, there is potential for a global retreat from the current preferential trend for democratic governance.

To be successful against the sources of the democracy backlash, the U.S. must work with other democracies to coordinate their efforts to reclaim the initiative from Russia and China, and Iran and Venezuela, which too often oppose U.S. efforts to foster political pluralism.

No other country in the world has more to say about successfully opening up political and economic structures to ordinary people and creating upward mobility than the U.S.