The Future of Diplomacy Project Is Seeking A Research Assistant For "The American Diplomacy Project"

The Future of Diplomacy Project seeks a paid Research Assistant for an initiative entitled, “The American Diplomacy Project: A Foreign Service for the 21st Century.” A description of the overall project is below.

The Research Assistant will assist the Project leadership with research for the final report and help plan and organize the 3-4 small conferences leading up to the launch of the report. The workload will vary at different stages of the project. It will average 5-15 hours per week.

Qualified applicants will have demonstrated, high-level research experience and knowledge in the areas of U.S. foreign policy, organizational management, and institutional reform. There is a preference for applicants with background and direct experience in the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Foreign Service, and/or U.S. Congress legislative affairs. Event planning experience helpful but not required. Excellent writing and exceptional attention to detail are a must. Preference will be to students who can commit to working for the duration of the project (January 2020-December 2020 or TBD).

Start date: January 27, 2020

To apply:

• Please email letter of interest (~350 words please) and resume to Erika_manouselis@hks.harvard.edu.  
• Put “American Diplomacy Project Research Assistant” in the subject line of the email. 
• Rolling until filled – no later than January 15.

The goal of this project – guided by former senior career Foreign Service Officers – is to draft a strategic, practical, and achievable plan to build a stronger U.S. Foreign Service that is ready and capable of promoting and protecting the interests of the U.S. in the 21st century. We will build a small research team to investigate new ways to build a modern diplomatic corps. We will hold three-four targeted conferences focused on ways to make the Foreign Service more resilient, including identifying a modern mission and proposing new ways to attract, motivate, and retain the next generation of Foreign Service Officers. This project will be conducted on an entirely non-partisan basis.

This project is led by Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations and Faculty Chair of the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School; Ambassador Nancy McEldowney, Director of the Masters in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service; Ambassador Marc Grossman, Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group; and Ambassador Marcie Ries, former U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria and Albania.