Diplomacy and foreign affairs

The Ford School's Weiser Diplomacy Center has made the University of Michigan a leading, dynamic hub for engagement with the foreign policy community and a national leader in international policy education.

Established in 2018 with a transformative gift from U-M alumni Ron and Eileen Weiser, the Weiser Diplomacy Center brings to campus high-profile leaders in foreign affairs, including Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Steve Biegun, Stephen Hadley, and Denis McDonough. We host professors of practice in international diplomacy, distinguished leaders who teach, mentor, and inspire our students. We develop and host simulations and other practical opportunities for students to grapple with issues such as environmental diplomacy and countering violent extremism. We support student-initiated projects, internships, and travel around the world.

The next generation of creative, well-trained, committed diplomats and foreign affairs professionals is studying at the Ford School. We offer competitive fellowships to top graduate students, awarding up to $25,000 per year.

To address today’s global challenges, we need professionals who have a strong grounding in history and social science and who can apply that knowledge to complex practical problems.”
John Ciorciari, director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center

Student experience

A world of difference

How the Weiser Diplomacy Center is preparing the next generation of foreign affairs leaders. When the Weiser Diplomacy Center (WDC) launched in...

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Michael S Barr, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and John Ciorciari walking outside in Ann Arbor

Through a partnership with the U.S. State Department, students will tackle real-world issues.

In the Atlantic, Page said that “being Black and a woman — and the face of America before a fledgling country (in South Sudan) — held enormous significance."

Zoom grid of attendees at a virtual international policy simulation event

Ford School students take on the EU-sponsored Schuman Challenge and place second. And 16 students participated in the new U.S. Army War College International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise.

The new program offers an intensive eight-week fellowship for graduate students interested in the Gulf region.

"After twenty years, six countries on three continents, and leadership of three Presidential Initiatives, I am proud of my small part in helping companies and governments embrace the once-radical worldview that companies have an immense responsibility to all of their stakeholders, not just to their shareholders."

“While there’s moral aversion to having politicians with serious criminal charges in office, it does seem that there’s at least some economic rationale.”

Weiser Diplomacy Center speakers 2019

The Weiser Diplomacy Center Launch Series

Mar 5, 2021| 01:24

The Weiser Diplomacy Center, U-M's dynamic new hub for the study and practice of diplomacy, launched in fall 2019 with visits from an all-star lineup...

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Featured video from The Weiser Diplomacy Center Launch Series

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How do you end conflicts through diplomacy conflict resolution? You need to have talented people who invest themselves in the substance of these places.

Ambassador Samantha Power

Power, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2013-17), is the incoming administrator of USAID. She spoke to Ford School students at the Ford School's annual Vandenberg Lecture in September 2019.

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Student opportunities and resources

Weiser Diplomacy Fellowship

International Policy Center

International Policy Students Association (IPSA)

Ford + Munk Conference

Schuman Challenge

Student-initiated projects

News

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Student experience

Connecting our students with diplomats

Students have opportunities to meet with and hear from the Ford School's visiting speakers and our U.S. State Department Diplomat in Residence through office hours and group meetings, and by serving as moderators for public events.

Here, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with graduate students Maggie Barnard (MPP '21) and Jonatan Martinez (MPP '20), during her visit. Barnard is a Weiser Diplomacy Fellow.

Economics and finance Energy and environment Human rights International development International policy and diplomacy Security Leadership

Diplomacy and foreign affairs

A world of difference

WDC adds Diplomacy Lab

Page reflects on representing America abroad

Simulations help students hone foreign policy skills

New international policy opportunity for students interested in the Gulf region

Sean Jones (MPP '00) USAID Ethiopia Mission Director

Yusef Neggers study on informed voting in India

The Weiser Diplomacy Center Launch Series

“Diplomacy is not just relationships between countries, it's about relationships between people . . . it can change the direction of a country, affecting tens of millions of people.”

Featured speakers