Weiser Diplomacy Center Series

Three noted experts will share insights drawn from academic study, civil society engagement, and diplomatic practice.

Three noted experts will share insights drawn from academic study, civil society engagement, and diplomatic practice.

Eric Schmitt and Dave Philipps will join Associate Professor of Practice Javed Ali in a conversation about their reporting, how it evolved, and the impact it has had on changing US policy with respect to civilian casualties that now extends outside the realm of just counterterrorism operations.

Join us for a discussion with Ambassador Peter Bodde on disaster response in South Asia region, especially his experience in hurricane stricken areas. 

Paul Lettow will discuss lessons learned from Truman to today in U.S. national security strategy in conversation with Professor John Ciorciari. 

A panel of former ambassadors hosted by the Weiser Diplomacy Center and the American Academy of Diplomacy will focus on the implications of the war in Ukraine globally and for NATO, Europe, Russia and China.

Professor John Chin’s (MPP '08) research focuses on the politics of unrest—from coups to nonviolent protest to assassinations—and regime change, authoritarian survival, and democratization.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Poland visits the University of Michigan to speak on the global impact of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Center for Strategic Leadership at the U.S. Army War College will host a policy simulation at the Ford School this fall. In this exercise, students will learn about the competition in the Arctic region and be tasked with using diplomacy to address a variety of urgent issues.

The Ford School and PICS students are invited to learn about the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program administered by Howard University that seeks to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers as diplomats in Foreign Services of the U.S. Department of State. 

Visiting Belgian diplomats in conversation with U-M students about transatlantic relations and the challenges the E.U. is facing right now. 

An epic account of the Navy SEALs of Alpha platoon, the startling accusations against their chief, Eddie Gallagher, and the courtroom battle that exposed the dark underbelly of America’s special forces–from a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter.

Dr. Bama Athreya is an expert on international labor issues, gender and social inclusion, business and human rights and will run a student workshop style discussion on using trade to address forced labor worldwide.

Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service (Retired) Colonel James T. (Tom) Faust will reflect on his career in the military and civilian service.

Ambassador Rakolta will reflect on his experience as U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and his work on the historic Abraham Accords.

Former Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and Alina Polyakova, president and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis, discuss the state of relations between the United States and Russia. 

David I. Steinberg and Moe Thuzar will discuss the coup in Myanmar and provide the essential context of the crisis. 

In Why Nations Rise, Manjari Miller argues that elites in some states actively reframe their image when their economic and military power increases, applies lessons from historical cases, and reshapes our understanding of rising power.

Eric Beinhart of the U.S. Department of Justice will discuss approaches to police reform in societies affected by conflict and ways to bridge the divide between formal law enforcement and traditional community governance structures in areas where state institutions have lacked capacity and/or legitimacy.

We invite Ford School students to join us for a conversation with Ambassador Joseph Yun on Biden administration's policy options with respect to North Korea. Yun is a senior advisor to the Asia Program at USIP and one of the nation’s leading experts on relations with North Korea.    

This event will feature Dr. Vivian S. Walker, Executive Director of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, in conversation with Professor John Ciorciari, Director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center at the University of Michigan, with a welcome address by Rejaul Karim Laskar, representing the Global Forum for Scholars & Practitioners of Diplomacy. 

The Weiser Diplomacy Center is partnering with the American Academy of Diplomacy to bring seasoned U.S. diplomats to Ford School and discuss the future of U.S. foreign policy after presidential election 2020.

Join us for a virtual conversation co-hosted by the Gulf International Forum featuring Dr. Dania Thafer, Executive Director of the Gulf International Forum (GIF), Abbas Khadim, Director of Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council and General Anthony C. Zinni, former United States Marine Corps general in conversation with Ambassador Patrick Theros. 

Please join us for a virtual seminar with Bui Hai Thiem, a research manager at the Institute for Legislative Studies, National Assembly Standing Committee of Vietnam, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an associate professor at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies and Wai Wai Nu, a former political prisoner and the founder and Executive Director of the Women Peace Network in Myanmar.

Please join us for a virtual seminar with Kinga Brudzinska, Program Director of Future of Europe for GLOBSEC Policy Institute in conversation with John Ciorciari, director of Weiser Diplomacy Center. They will discuss major trends, challenges and opportunities for supporting democracy in central and eastern Europe—particularly the “V4” countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. This event is open to all University of Michigan students.    

Please join us for a virtual seminar with Dr. Babajide Ololajulo, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and Dr. Patrick Cobbinah, Urban Planning Academic in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, in conversation with Justine M. Davis, LSA Collegiate Fellow in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) at the University of Michigan.

Join us for a conversation on current relations between the United States and China and possible paths forward given COVID and the upcoming U.S. elections. Panelists will include Kenneth Lieberthal, senior fellow emeritus at Brookings, Mary Gallagher, professor of political science, and Ann Lin, associate professor of public policy. Ford School Dean Michael Barr will moderate the discussion. 

Join the Weiser Diplomacy Center and the Ford School for a discussion with David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee and former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. 

Please join us for a virtual seminar with Jason Carter, Chairman of the Carter Center Board of Trustees, Ms. Narcis Scope, Chief Elections Officer, Elections and Boundaries Commission of Trinidad and Tobago representing CARICOM, and Ms. Pauline Chase from Guyana Bar Association in conversation with Ambassador Susan Page, Professor of Practice in International Diplomacy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy discussing about the Guyana Electoral Observation Mission (EOM).

Please join us for a virtual seminar with Amy Studdart, senior advisor at the International Republican Institute, where she leads the organization's digital democracy programming, in conversation with Associate Professor John Ciorciari, director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center and International Policy Center about two case examples of combating misinformation while promoting open online spaces, in Taiwan and Venezuela.