Carnegie-Maxwell Policy Planning Lab
The Policy Planning Lab
The Moynihan Institute is pleased to host the Policy Planning Lab, a muti-year project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to bridge the gap between social science research and the formulation of foreign and defense policy.
The concept of policy planning, as it is understood today in the United States and many allied countries, originated in the U.S. State Department under the leadership of Dean Acheson. The role of policy planning was “To anticipate the emerging form of things to come, to reappraise policies which had acquired their own momentum and went on after the reasons for them had ceased, and to stimulate and, when necessary, to devise basic policies crucial to the conduct of our foreign affairs.” It is in this sprit that the Policy Planning Lab at the Maxwell School brings together emerging national security leaders, subject matter experts and seasoned policy professionals to bridge the gap between scholarship and policy when it comes to thinking about current international challenges and the trajectory such challenges may take over the next five to ten years.
The Experience
The PPL is a six-month long program for emerging leaders in foreign affairs writ large. Over the course of the PPL participants will participate in two weekend long, in-person workshops in which they will tackle a policy planning challenge in a Track II foresight and planning exercise. During the workshops the team will analyze contemporary regional and functional issues, identify policy gaps and faults, and plan and formulate policy to address these issues. During the workshop, participants will cultivate relationships with academic issue experts, faculty, and peers that will last throughout their careers.
Between the two in-person workshops, participants will complete an online seminar focused on developing the management and leadership skills they will need as the move into the higher echelons of US policy formulation. Participants will learn how to build a team, develop a vision for their team, provide constructive feedback to team members, negotiate in an interagency setting and manage “hot moments”.
HOW TO APPLY OR NOMINATE AN INDIVIDUAL
Early career foreign policy professionals may apply directly to the program. Alternatively, if you are a senior policy maker familiar with a candidate you believe would benefit from the program, you can nominate an individual to apply.
If you are an emerging leader and are applying directly, send a two page CV, one page cover letter and twos letter of recommendation, one from your immediate supervisor, to the PPL Director, Prof. Michael John Williams at mjwill14@syr.edu
If you are a senior leader nominating an emerging leader to apply, email the PPL Director, Prof. Michael John Williams at mjwill14@syr.edu
The Theme
The Theme: Postwar: Europe, Ukraine and the Future of European Order
The theme of the first cohort will be “Postwar: Europe, Ukraine and the Future of European Order”. The first session will be at Syracuse University from April 19-21, 2024 and the second will be held at the university’s Minnowbrook Lodge in the Adirondacks from August 17-20, 2024.
As we approach the two-year mark of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the conflict looks to stretch far into the future without resolution. Ukraine’s success to date is indisputable. Kyiv held off a full-scale invasion of the entire country in February 2022 and in the months sense Ukraine has undertaken both a massive military transformation and successfully waged a defensive war against the Kremlin. While those who favor liberty and democracy wish to see a total Ukrainian victory that recaptures all Russian occupied land, the feasibility of this goal is debatable. How long can Ukraine, a country of 40 million citizens, continue to wage attritional war against Russia, a country of 130 million people? How long will the US remain committed to Ukraine “winning” the war, especially as the US presidential election heats up? What does Europe need to do to prepare and sustain Ukraine for a long-term conflict against Russia? Is economic rehabilitation and development, to facilitate Ukraine’s integration into the EU, possible alongside attritional war? What needs to be done in the near and medium term to advance this goal?