Weiser Diplomacy 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. 

Curbing corruption in Armenia was one of the main goals of the new Armenian government before the velvet revolution in 2018. According to Transparency International, Armenian Corruption Perception Index has increased by 7 points and the rank has improved by 28 positions in 2019 compared to 2018. What were the social and economic factors keeping the high level of corruption in the country? Recent empirical studies have predominantly looked at antecedents of corruption from a macro level. Based on the analysis of three datasets comprising of individual-level surveys taken over a three-year period in Armenia, the study argues that social norms, personal wealth, and the high reliability of corrupt transactions impact an individual’s decision to be involved in corruption.

Please join us for a Career Talk & Seminar with Eric Beinhart and Gregory Ducot from U.S. Department of Justice in conversation with Associate Professor John Ciorciari, director of Weiser Diplomacy Center and International Policy Center about the Practice of International Development.

Please join us for a Lunch Talk with Susan C. Doman in conversation with Associate Professor John Ciorciari, director of Weiser Diplomacy Center and International Policy Center about the Public Diplomacy in Afghanistan.

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 in collaboration with The University of Virginia National Security Policy Center and Meridian International Center will host a forum that will engage policymakers, military officials, academic experts, diplomats and other thought leaders to examine challenges and opportunities at the intersection of defense and diplomacy during this crucial transitional period in Afghanistan.

Roger Lu Phillips, Legal Director at the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, will discuss SJAC's work supporting Universal Jurisdiction prosecutions in Europe as well as its work ascertaining the fate of Syrian victims who have been detained or gone missing during the conflict.  

We invite the Ford School community to a seminar with Ambassador Klosson from Save the Children.

A conversation with Ambassador Dan Shields about the East Asia Summit. 

We invite you to a student session with Congressman Ted Deutch and his Chief of Staff Josh Rogin.

The Ford School's Weiser Diplomacy Center hosts a Master Class with Condoleezza Rice, facilitated by John Ciorciari, discussing “Democracy and America’s Foreign Policy Identity.”

A Ford School and WCEE student event with Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia Professional Development Fellow Professor Peter Terem for a discussion on the political stability and international reputation of Slovakia. 

Victoria Pebbles, Program Director at Great Lakes Commission, will host this environmental policy simulation focused on the challenges and potential solutions to managing invasive mussels that have blanketed large portions of the North American Great Lakes.

Join us for the 2019 IPC/WDC Welcome Picnic! 

Enjoy delicious food and live music as you tour the classrooms, spaces and suites of Weill Hall.

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 us for a Meet and Greet session with Lou Fintor, the Ford School’s new Diplomat in Residence. Please sign up here. 

On February 23, the Ford School will host graduate students from 14 univerisities to participate in the 2019 NASPAA-Batten Student Simulation Competition. This year’s competition—a partnership between the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA)—will connect a record 585 students from 11 global host sites including Dhaka, Cairo, Mexico City, and San Francisco to tackle policy issues associated with forced migration through computer-based simulated game play. 

The 2019 Schuman Challenge will welcome undergraduate students from seventeen different U.S. colleges and universities to the EU Delegation to the United States in Washington DC on February 14-15, 2019. During the competition students will work in teams to develop and defend before senior international affairs professionals new policies for transatlantic cooperation supporting Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders

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

The Ford School’s Weiser Diplomacy Center (WDC) and Lou Fintor, the U.S. Department of State's Diplomat in Residence invite you to a timely diplomacy simulation exercise “Countering Violent Extremism: Balancing Civil Liberties and Security.” This simulation was developed by Department of State's U.S. Diplomacy Center and involves a hypothetical scenario based on a real global challenge: how to address violent extremism while at the same time respecting and protecting civil rights and liberties. As this exercise has not been previously used, Ford School students will be the first cohort in the nation to test this simulation. U.S. State Department's Diplomat in Residence Lou Fintor will lead the simulation here at the Ford School and supplement the exercise with examples drawn from his assignments in South Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Only signed up students can participate.

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.