The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine is pleased to announce a competition for the 2017 Study of the United States Institute on U.S. National Security Policymaking. This program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and will cover all participant costs. The six-week institute will take place from January 5 to February 17, 2017 at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE.

The program’s ultimate goal is to promote the development and improvement of courses and teaching about the United States at universities and other educational, training, and research institutions. Institute Description: The highly competitive Study of the United States Institute on U.S. National Security is a rigorous post-graduate-level academic seminar with integrated study tours which will provide a group of 18 educators and professionals from throughout the world with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the foundations of U.S. national security policy and current threats facing the U.S. The institute focuses on the formulation of U.S. foreign and national security policy and the role of the federal government, think-tanks, media, and public opinion in shaping that policy. The Institute will be hosted by the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware.

The program will examine the question of how we discern U.S. national security policy continuities and changes that shape the policies and conduct of presidential administrations. Against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential elections, the Institute will encourage intellectual engagement, reflection, and interaction with U.S.-based experts to deepen scholar knowledge of the foundations and formulation of U.S. national security policy.

The program will focus on four interconnected modules:

1) The U.S. view of the world and its place in the global system;

2) Terrorism and national security in the U.S. and abroad;

3) U.S. immigration and refugee policies and

4) The search for the right balance between unilateralism and multilateralism in U.S. national security policy.

Each week, scholars will participate in academic sessions, roundtable discussions with U.S. national security experts, and conversations with the broader Newark, Delaware community on key thematic topics. The Institute participants will also travel to San Antonio and Austin, Texas, as well as New York City, Washington D.C., and other regional locales.

The Institute is very intensive and should not be viewed as a research program. Participants are expected to attend all lectures and organized activities, and complete all assigned readings. 

Eligibility: The candidate should be a mid-career, highly-motivated, and experienced faculty member from an institution of higher education, or national security policymaking institutions, including national military academies, government ministries, and thinktanks. He or she should be a specialist in international relations or a related field with substantial knowledge of foreign affairs who speaks English fluently and is between the ages of 30-50. The ideal candidate will have little or no prior experience in the United States who have special interest in the program subject areas as demonstrated through past scholarship, accomplishments, and professional duties.

The U.S. Embassy’s nominee should be in a position to have a significant impact on curriculum development and should come from an institution that is seeking to enhance the teaching of U.S. Studies, by developing new courses, by improving and updating existing courses on the United States, and/or by offering specialized seminars for professionals. While the candidate’s scholarly and professional credentials are an important consideration, an equally important factor is how participation in the institute will enhance course offerings in U.S. studies at the candidate’s home institution.

Deadline for receiving applications at Public Affairs Section is 12:00 p.m. (Kyiv time) Friday, September 30, 2016. 

Application Form (DOC)

Application Form (PDF)

Send your application package, including the completed application form, and personal essay by e-mail to: [email protected]