Departments and Research Centers

Weiser Diplomacy Center

The Weiser Diplomacy Center serves as a hub for engagement with the foreign policy community, bringing a diverse cadre of seasoned diplomats and foreign policy experts to campus and creating new opportunities for students and faculty.

Showing 1 - 30 of 377 results
Visiting faculty

Stephen E. Biegun

Weiser International Policymaker in Residence, Weiser Diplomacy Center
Stephen E. Biegun is the Weiser International Policymaker in Residence with the Weiser Diplomacy Center at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He has more than three decades of international affairs experience in…
Visiting faculty

Louis Fintor

U.S. State Department Diplomat in Residence
Joining the Foreign Service in 2002, Fintor, a UM alumni and Detroit native, served as U.S. Embassy spokesperson in the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. As Diplomat in Residence (DIR), Fintor provides information on State Department opportunities…
Visiting faculty

Mark Pekala

Visiting Policy Practitioner, Weiser Diplomacy Center
Ambassador Mark Pekala (BA Political Science '81) has served as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in Paris, DCM in Tallinn, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and Senior Director for…
Visiting faculty

Daniel Shields

Visiting Policy Practitioner, Weiser Diplomacy Center
Ambassador (Ret.) Daniel Shields is a visiting policy practitioner at the Ford School's Weiser Diplomacy Center. He consults, teaches courses and conducts simulations relating to diplomacy and U.S.-Asia relations. From 2015-18, while on detail from…
Visiting faculty

Kseniya Yurtayeva

Visiting Scholar, Weiser Diplomacy Center
Kseniya Yurtayeva a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan, with support from the Weiser Diplomacy Center, where she is working on her current research project, “Cyberaggression as a method applied in contemporary warfare.” Yurtayeva is an…
Core faculty

John D. Ciorciari

Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement; Professor of Public Policy; Director, International Policy Center and Weiser Diplomacy Center
Ciorciari is a professor of public policy and director of the Ford School's Weiser Diplomacy Center and International Policy Center. His research focuses on international law and politics in the Global South.
Core faculty

Melvyn Levitsky

Professor of International Policy and Practice
Levitsky serves as senior associate of the school's International Policy Center, and senior advisor to the Weiser Diplomacy Center. During his 35-year career as a U.S. diplomat, Levitsky was ambassador to Brazil from 1994-98 and held such senior positions as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, ambassador to Bulgaria, deputy director of the Voice of America, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights.
Core faculty

Ann Chih Lin

Associate Professor of Public Policy; Director, Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies
Lin, a political scientist, studies how people experience policy implementation. Her current work examines racial and ethnic difference in the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic; bias reduction against Muslims; national security scapegoating of immigrant groups; conservatism among immigrants; and subnational labor migration policy.
Core faculty

Susan D. Page

Professor of Practice in International Diplomacy, Weiser Diplomacy Center; Professor from Practice, University of Michigan Law School
Page applies her vast foreign policy experience to the Weiser Diplomacy Center. She has served the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations in senior roles for decades, across East, Central, and Southern Africa, and in Haiti and Nepal. Page was the first U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan and served as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations in Haiti.
Staff

Matt Doss

Administrative Assistant, Weiser Diplomacy Center
Matt Doss is the administrative assistant for the Weiser Diplomacy Center at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Previously, Matt served as policy director for the Great Lakes Commission. Matt has more than two…
Staff

Zuzana Selcova Wiseley

Assistant Program Manager, Weiser Diplomacy Center
Zuzana Selcova Wiseley is an assistant program manager at the Weiser Diplomacy Center. Zuzana has over 20 years of experience in public and private fields of international relations and higher education. She manages WDC's international policy program…
Staff

Zalma Valencia

Administrative Assistant, International Policy Center and Weiser Diplomacy Center
Zalma Valencia is the administrative assistant for the Ford School's International Policy Center and Weiser Diplomacy…
In the Media

Ali analyzes benefits of designating drug cartels as terrorists

Mar 20, 2023 Federal Newswire
Javed Ali, Federal Newswire: "One of the biggest developments would be bringing material support to terrorism charges against Mexican cartels if so designated by the State Department [and approved by Congress]. These charges have been effective post...
In the Media

Ali discusses Russian aircraft incident over Black Sea

Mar 14, 2023 Newsweek
Javed Ali, Newsweek: "[The downing of the drone] serves as a stark reminder of the potential for small-scale incidents like this to further heighten tensions between both sides and possibly trigger unintended escalation in response. The Biden...
In the Media

Ali on designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations

Mar 10, 2023 Texas Public Radio
Javed Ali, Texas Public Radio: "It's a complicated process for any organization to be designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. The State Department and our government take the lead for that. If a designation were to...
In the Media

Ali: No authority to use military force to fight drug cartels

Mar 7, 2023 AFP
Javed Ali, AFP: "Unless this resolution or any similar one becomes law, there is currently no explicit legal authority that the president has that directly approves military operations against drug cartels in Mexico. (If there was an attack on US...
In the Media

Ali discusses China-Russia relationship

Feb 25, 2023 Newsweek
Javed Ali, Newsweek: "Xi has to make a decision about how to manage that relationship with Russia, and what's most important about that in the fight against Ukraine versus China's biggest strategic ambitions. If the intelligence case was that China...
In the Media

Levitsky on the stakes of Biden's Ukraine visit

Feb 24, 2023 Money Control
Melvyn Levitsky, Money Control: "(Biden's visit to Ukraine) shows the US’s and NATO’s support for Ukraine. It is also a warning to Russia and Putin not to escalate. Putin knows that a nuclear exchange would destroy Russia as well as a number of...
News

Russia-Ukraine, one year later: Ford School experts can discuss

Feb 23, 2023
University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy experts can discuss Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine and the ensuing war as the one-year anniversary approaches.  Javed Ali, associate professor of practice at the Ford School, is a former...
In the Media

Ali analyzes unique Chinese spy balloon incident

Feb 17, 2023 ABC Australia
Javed Ali, ABC Australia: "Over the past week, I would say this is a pretty unusual set of developments from a U.S. national security perspective. And now that I've had a little bit of time to think about it and see how the story is evolving, it's a...
News

Ali analyzes Chinese spy balloons with NPR Marketplace

Feb 14, 2023
In the last week, the U.S. has shot down four different objects in U.S. and Canadian airspace. One of those has been confirmed as a Chinese surveillance balloon. Javed Ali, associate professor of practice, provided his expertise to NPR Marketplace,...
Publication

Biden needs a new counterterrorism approach - Ali

Feb 10, 2023
Since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the attention towards counterterrorism has withered. However, in a new op-ed for The Hill, national security expert Javed Ali argues that the Biden administration must still prioritize...
In the Media

Ciorciari weighs in on Chinese spy balloon

Feb 10, 2023 The Hill
John Ciorciari, The Hill: "This incident makes it likely the U.S. accelerates different kinds of counterintelligence initiatives and expands to areas like, who do we grant visas to? Who is allowed to study at universities? An acceleration of those...
In the Media

Ciorciari on dangers of Pakistan's economic crisis

Feb 9, 2023 VOA News
John Ciorciari, VOA News: "Pakistan is on the brink of economic collapse. If the crisis continues, the government may soon face considerable added unrest and exacerbate domestic social conflict. This could destabilize the government in a country...
News

NATO Ambassador to give Ford School's Vandenberg Lecture

Feb 9, 2023
The Ford School of Public Policy is pleased to present Ambassador Julianne Smith as the 2023 Arthur Vandenberg Lecture. Ambassador Smith has served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO since November 2021. Prior to her current position,...