Strategy and Statecraft

Overview

The international landscape is undergoing significant geopolitical changes, including in the global balance of power. Several world-changing events have impacted society in recent years, including COVID-19, the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, and a growing Sino-American rivalry. These events have far-reaching consequences across the public and private sectors and international politics. CSIS is continuing its effort to cultivate a new generation of leaders able to understand the tools of strategy and statecraft to address these issues. In 2025, we will convene a new group of executives to consider possibilities for crafting order from disorder. During the year-long program, Strategy and Statecraft Fellows will engage with world-leading experts and policy practitioners to better understand the changes taking place in today’s world and the way policymakers in Washington and other foreign capitals perceive these situations.

Fellowship Participant Benefits  

• Fellows will acquire knowledge on the practice of statecraft on an array of challenges facing the United States.
• Fellows will speak directly with national security practitioners who have served at the highest ranks of the U.S. government and scholars who are well-published intellectual leaders in the policy field.
• In this and following years, the Fellowship will create an alumni network of diverse rising national security leaders, drawing on a wide range of career backgrounds and expertise.
   

Fellowship Qualifications and Expectations

• Each applicant should have ten or more years of experience in their chosen career field.
• Ideal applicants to the program should have some experience with strategic, corporate, or policy planning.
• Applicants should be interested in national and international policy but need not have deep backgrounds in national security or foreign policy.
• Fellows will be expected to keep up with 3-5 hours of reading or other materials per month and to contribute personal experiences and views to group discussions.
• Fellows must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must either be based in the Washington, D.C. area or able to travel to Washington, D.C. for monthly dinners at their own expense.
• CSIS will place a high priority on recruiting a diverse and inclusive cohort.
• Fellows are expected to attend all dinners and the summit.
   

Application Requirements

• Applications are due on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.
• Applicants are required to submit an application consisting of the following to be considered for the Fellowship:
  • Brief professional resume or CV.
  • Personal statement (2 pages or less) responding to a prompt on the application website.
  • Professional references, including name and contact information.
     

Curriculum

The Strategy and Statecraft Fellowship will convene monthly dinners on key topics in foreign policy, national security, and strategic thought. Dinners will feature participation from current and former senior government officials as well as leading subject matter experts.

The program will conclude with the Strategy and Statecraft Summit in early 2026 at a venue outside of Washington, D.C. The summit will be an intensive multi-day experience, combining an extended war game or simulation, scenario-based discussions, and lectures to tie together the program’s themes and provide Fellows an opportunity to apply the program’s lessons in a professionally relevant manner.

The launch of the Strategy and Statecraft Fellowship was made possible by support from Dr. M.J. Chung, in honor of Dr. Henry Kissinger. Dr. Chung has shared with us an essay about Dr. Kissinger, which can be seen here.