Stanford University
Courses offered at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Managing Global Political Risk
In a globalized world, managers and investors are increasingly realizing that politics matter as much as economic fundamentals. Micro-level decisions made by local politicians in Brazil or India, national-level strategies of countries like China and Russia, and multi-national regimes, policies, and norms are all affecting global businesses in significant and often surprising ways. This course examines the full array of political risks confronting businesses today, from creeping expropriations to sudden shocks like national debt defaults and coups to emerging threats like cyber exploitation. Students will learn about impediments to assessing political risk and how to tackle them; develop strategies for managing political risk in a systematic way; and craft tools for mitigating the downside effects of political risk to business. Each session will include customized case studies and mini-simulations for students to walk in the shoes of senior managers confronting these challenges.
Challenges and Dilemmas in American Foreign Policy
This seminar will examine the complexities and trade offs involved in foreign policy decision-making at the end of the twentieth century and the dawn of the post-9/11 era. Students will analyze dilemmas confronting policymakers through case studies including post-conflict reconstruction and state-building, nuclear proliferation, democratization and peace negotiation. The seminar will conclude with a 48-hour crisis simulation. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Application for enrollment required. Applications will be available for pick up in Political Science Department (Encina West 100) starting late-October.
Ambassador Rose Gottemoeller
Verification of 21st Century Arms Control Treaties
Strong monitoring and verification are at the heart of an effective arms control treaty. The better we can monitor, the better we can verify that treaty obligations are met and nobody is cheating. Arms control monitoring is stuck in the past, however, with tools and methods unchanged from the first nuclear negotiations in the 1970s. Meanwhile, other international regimes have gone ahead, with environmental and resource management treaties making big strides in the use of ubiquitous sensing and other new technologies. This seminar course will explore how to bring these innovations to the arms control arena, to create treaties for the 21st century.