Our Mission
Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy bridges academic theory and practitioner experience to address increasingly complex global challenges, from geopolitical conflicts to transnational threats, the global commons, evolving diplomatic statecraft, and the emerging multipolar order. The Institute weaves research and practice to generate new ideas and approaches; and, teaches, mentors, and prepares the next generation of foreign policy practitioners to craft sustainable solutions to current, emerging, and yet unknown challenges.
Who We Are
Founded in 1978, Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy is uniquely positioned to serve as a bridge between academic scholarship and practitioner’s expertise to better understand and enhance the core role of diplomacy in advancing national interests, global stability, and economic security.
The world faces existential and transnational threats such as pandemics, climate change, fragile and failing states, cyber and the dark side of technology, terrorism and kleptocracy, and bad actors who offend the very nature of civilized society and international norms and do not respect boundaries. These threats cannot be managed by a single state or, as most experienced military commanders will attest, by military means alone. They demand a well-constructed, well-tended, and well-respected international order, and the institutions to maintain it.
Diplomacy’s partners — development and defense; commerce and technology; nongovernmental organizations and civil society; and, friends and allies — rely on the diplomat’s and policy-maker’s skills to create, foster, and maintain a global environment within which they can best operate.
Addressing these challenges requires effective diplomacy, in concert with these partners, that builds toward sustainable solutions through negotiations and mediation, political persuasion, and conflict resolution.
Without effective engagement there can be no peace, no economic or human security, nor sustainable environment.
What We Do
To solve the challenges we face today, and those we cannot yet imagine, the Institute weaves together theory and practice, supports teaching and mentoring at the undergraduate, graduate, and mid-career level, and provides tailored executive master’s and certificate programs. In addition, the Institute organizes policy dialogues between scholars and policy-makers on emerging global challenges, publishes reports and policy briefs, and manages the only globally-accessible online library of practitioner-focused diplomatic case studies and simulations.
- Host mid-level and senior State Department and US military fellows who undertake individual research, engage with the broader University community, and teach both undergraduate and graduate students in their area of expertise and on careers in global policy.
- Convene annual scholar-practitioner working groups to explore innovative solutions to emerging diplomatic challenges in the global commons. Publish reports on outcomes to the broad policy community.
- Curate and expand the only globally-available, online library of over 250 diplomacy-centric case studies, analogous to law and business school case studies, that combine first-person analytical historical context and practitioner-simulated problem-solving.
- Direct undergraduate and graduate-level Certificates in Diplomatic Studies and in Global Health Diplomacy to complement and expand students’ degree programs, with a focus on the intellectual skills necessary for successful careers in the global policy world. Graduate students undertake a rigorous capstone project presented to a panel of senior practitioners.
- Provide mid-career professional education through an intensive one-week Georgetown Leadership Seminar (GLS) and a year-long executive master’s degree for foreign diplomats and practitioners (EMDIA).
- Advise, mentor, and financially support undergraduate and graduate research fellows‘ work on emerging diplomatic issues.
- Host public events that recognize practitioners who have excelled in the conduct of diplomacy (Trainor Award), diplomatic reporting (Weintal Award), of American foreign policy and American diplomacy (Iden Lecture Series), in addition to other public events.
- Host a regular podcast of conversations with foreign policy professionals and scholars, along with an online magazine that features analytical pieces from both aspiring and seasoned practitioners.