Public event

John Ciorciari and Susanna Campbell will talk about findings from his new book Sovereignty Sharing in Fragile States outlining conditions under which shared sovereignty tends to fail or succeed in advancing accountability for human rights violation.

Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer will discuss the intersection of national security interests and human rights in the always volatile Middle East.  

Ambassador Susan D. Page will moderate a discussion with cultural heritage experts from U-M and Africa surrounding the reclamation and repatriation of African heritage from Northern cultural institutions back to Africa.

In this talk, Amb. Susan D. Page will explore the presence and impact of race relations on U.S. foreign policy and U.S. actions at home.

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. 

The 2020 United States presidential election will be held Tuesday, November 3, 2020. (Polling location times vary by state)

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. 

Due to COVID-19, this event has been canceled.   

Join us for a lunchtime webinar to learn more about the Ford School's research centers.

Due to COVID-19, this event has been canceled.  We are working to reschedule this event.

Please join us for a talk with Denis McDonough, former White House Chief of Staff for President Barack Obama, in conversation with Associate Professor John Ciorciari, director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center and International Policy Center.

This Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture will examine the nexus between labor rights and trade—a crucial topic as U.S. and global trade arrangements are being renegotiated. It will feature a conversation between two experts who have long worked to advance worker’s rights in the context of global trade—Dr. Bama Athreya, a visiting policy expert at the Weiser Diplomacy Center, and Ford School Professor of Practice Sander Levin. 

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice will reflect on her career and on her new memoir, Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For.

This event will feature a conversation between noted Russian journalist and scholar Yevgenia Albats and Ambassador Susan Elliott, a recently retired U.S. diplomat, on the role of media and information in the evolving relationship between Russia and the United States.

The Weiser Diplomacy Center is partnering with the American Academy of Diplomacy to bring seasoned U.S. diplomats to Ford School and discuss the U.S., Iran and Security in Persian Gulf.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Inaugural Weiser Diplomacy Center lecture.

We'll be celebrating this fall! Save the date and join us for the Ford School Reunion!

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power will reflect on her career and on her new memoir, Education of an Idealist (Harper Collins, September 2019): the third annual Vandenberg Lecture.

Former NSA Stephen Hadley, former assistant secretary of state Daniel Fried, and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition Liz Schrayer will explore evolving Transatantic relationships in an event launching the Weiser Diplomacy Center.

Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun (LSA '86) discusses U.S. policy and strategy for achieving the denuclearization of North Korea and the transformation of U.S.-North Korean relations.

Over the past five years, a growing number of Xinjiang Uighurs have been sent to re-education camps by the Chinese government, most without trials or release dates.  Estimates have reached as high as one million detainees.   The Chinese government has framed these camps as schools that attack terrorist beliefs and give Uighurs the work and life skills necessary to thrive in a modern economy.  It has received very little pressure or public condemnation from its Central Asian neighbors, from Muslim countries, or from its trading partners in the developed world.  This human rights crisis raises questions central to the role and practice of diplomacy.  What justification is there for bringing foreign diplomatic pressure to bear on issues that a country defines as central to its identity and existence?  What do we know about the success of different types of advocacy, whether through diplomatic channels, pressure from international organizations, or NGO-led protest? To what extent does the crisis in Xinjiang affect the stability of Central Asia, or the fate of separatist movements in Tibet, Hong Kong, and Taiwan?

Join the Weiser Diplomacy Center and American Academy of Diplomacy for a live recording of the latest episode of the podcast American Diplomat: The Stories behind the news.

A conversation with Dean Michael S. Barr and Ambassador William J. Burns.

Join Christina Goldbaum, Bronwyn Bruton and John Ciorciari for an examination of the U.S. military’s presence and role in Africa and the implications for civilian lives and global security.

In July 2014 Washington Post journalist and former Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, was arrested by Iranian police on charges of espionage. What followed was a harrowing 544 day stint in an Iranian prison, and an extraordinary campaign led by his family, the Washington Post, and prominent journalism organizations for his release. Join Rezaian for a discussion on his book “Prisoner,” which details his 18-month imprisonment in a maximum security facility, his journey through the Iranian legal system and how his release became part of the Iran nuclear deal.

Join us for a conversation and book talk with Harold Koh on his new book: The Trump Administration and International Law.