Oliver Mains It doesn’t take much digging to see that global politics is undergoing a fundamental shift. Democracy, once on a seemingly unstoppable growth trajectory, faces new challenges around the world from illiberal competitors. I entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 2012, riding the optimism of the Arab Spring and…

A historic international agreement on migration cooperation in the Americas Kyilah M. Terry In response to overlapping crises in Latin America, President Joseph Biden welcomed heads of state from 20 countries across the region to the Summit of Americas earlier this month to announce the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration…

Ryan Conner Last week, the U.K. government introduced legislation that unilaterally alters the Northern Ireland Protocol, a key provision of the Brexit deal with the European Union. This U.K.-E.U. legal agreement aims to preserve the free movement of goods and people between Ireland — which remains part of the European…

Aaron Garfield This piece is part of ISD’s blog series, “A better diplomacy,” which highlights innovators and their big ideas for how to make diplomacy more effective, resilient, and adaptive in the 21st century. On June 2, French diplomats launched a strike for only the second time in the history…

River Harper Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has resulted in countless civilian deaths, a vast increase in refugees across multiple countries, and trillions of dollars in economic damage. China continues to express a desire to bring Taiwan under its control, stoking fears that it may eventually move to invade…

Even large classes can benefit from the case study method, if managed well — In 2000, the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy published a guide for professors looking to bring the case study method to their classroom, called “The ABCs of Case Teaching.” Prepared by Vicki L. Golich, Mark Boyer, Patrice Franko, and Steve Lamy — all pioneers in the case study field…

Harper Thomas The following blog post draws on research conducted by the author with funding and support from the ISD Fellows in Diplomacy program. The reaction of Muslim Middle Eastern states to the Bosnian genocide in 1992 was strident; several nations including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and the United Arab…

On Saturday, May 21, Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered the commencement address for Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. The Institute for the Study of Diplomacy’s Director Amb. (retired) Barbara Bodine introduced him, praising his demonstrated commitment to transforming structures and institutions to better serve the American people and the…

Jordyn Iger The following blog post draws on research conducted by the author with funding and support from the ISD Fellows in Diplomacy program. Last week’s shocking mass shooting in Buffalo, NY is just the latest in a series of high-profile, identity-based acts of violence in the United States, including…