The Senior Seminar in Foreign Policy, also known as the Senior Executive Seminar, is an annual 10 month-long seminar for senior diplomats and officials offered by the

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for members of the U.S. foreign service community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreign ...

within the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

. The members of the seminar are selected from the ranks of the

Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

as well as civil and military personnel. The classes range in size but stay consistently under 30. About half of the students are taken from the Foreign and Civil Service of the Department of State. The other half is usually made up of representatives of the different branches of the armed forces and intelligence agencies along with employees of the Department of the Treasury and

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

. The curriculum consists of numerous lectures by experts in different fields, field trips, independent and group research, and in-class discussion. The Seminar includes three major themes: personal improvement, US domestic affairs, and foreign affairs.

History

The Senior Seminar was officially established in 1958 as the Senior Officer Course. The original idea for a graduate-level training course on foreign affairs in the State Department originated in 1926, when Loy Henderson proposed a sabbatical be established for senior officials in a memo to Assistant Secretary Wilbur Carr. The Foreign Service Act of 1946 created the Foreign Service Institute and suggested senior training be made available through the Institute but no training at this level was instituted in the immediate aftermath of the Act. In 1955, Henderson was made Deputy Undersecretary for Management and in late 1957, he asked Willard Barber to put together a course for senior leadership. Barber was the director of the political department at the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

and after the course's creation he was in charge of the first seminar. Students at the

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies submitted proposals for the curriculum for the seminar. The first two classes had only 19 students and was only nine months long.

The Senior Officer Course went through two name changes: in 1960 it was renamed the Senior Seminar in Foreign Policy and then in 1977 to the Executive Seminar in National and International Affairs. It has been colloquially called the Senior Seminar since it was renamed the first time. In 1966,

President Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served as ...

addressed the graduating class of the Senior Seminar. In 2010, diplomat Allen L. Keiswetter was interviewed for the

Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) is a United States 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1986 by retired Foreign Service officers, headquartered at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Cent ...

about the Senior Seminar of 1989–1990. Keiswetter said that during this year, the students were heavily involved in planning the Seminar. It was also the first year the Seminar took a trip to Alaska.

Purpose

The stated purpose of the Seminar is to "give selected officials...a ten-month opportunity for expanding and deepening their perceptivity of and perspectives on what is happening and why in America and the world. The emphasis is on broadening their understanding of the issues and forces at work in America and the world rather than on training in methods and techniques of management or other specific subjects." Deputy Undersecretary of Management William Crockett said the seminar gives senior officials “an opportunity to step back and look at themselves, to get to know their country again intimately, to reevaluate their opportunities and responsibilities in its service and to think imaginatively about their profession and its problems.” Henderson believed the Seminar would be "a launching pad for ambassadors."

Graduates (non-exhaustive)

* Frank Almaguer (1990–1991) * Alexander Arvizu (2003–2004) * Thomas D. Boyatt (1974–1975) * Katherine W. Bracken (1958-1959) * Aurelia E. Brazeal (1986–1987)Brazeal later worked as the Dean of the Senior Seminar from 1998-1999 * Patricia M. Byrne (1975–1976) *

Carey Cavanaugh Carey Edward Cavanaugh (born January 1955) is a former U.S. Ambassador, peace mediator and chairman of International Alert, a London-based independent peacebuilding organization. He is currently professor of diplomacy at the University of Kentuck ...

(2001–2002) * Andrew V. Corry *

Donald B. Easum Donald Boyd Easum (August 27, 1923 – April 16, 2016) was an American diplomat. Foreign service Easum spent 27 years in the United States Foreign Service at posts in Nicaragua, Indonesia, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Republic o ...

Thomas Fingar Charles Thomas Fingar, (born January 11, 1946) is a professor at Stanford University. In 1986 Fingar left Stanford to join the State Department. In 2005, he moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as the deputy director of Na ...

(1992–1993) * Thomas J. Hirschfeld * Marilyn P. Johnson (1974–1975) * Allen Keiswetter (1989–1990) * R. Niels Marquardt * Harvey Frans Nelson Jr. (1971) * Cristobal R. Orozco (1989) * Leo W. Smith II (1976–1977)

References

United States educational programs United States Department of State International relations education