Columbia University announced today it was launching the Institute of Global Politics (IGP), a new center that will bring together leading policymakers, political leaders, practitioners, and scholars.
Housed in Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), the Institute is being headed up by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will serve as the Chair of the IGP Faculty Advisory Board, and Keren Yarhi-Milo, dean of SIPA.
“We are so proud to launch the Institute of Global Politics, which will cement Columbia University as an epicenter of global policymaking,” said Yarhi-Milo, in the university’s announcement. “To have Secretary Clinton on campus — along with more than a dozen of the world’s preeminent global leaders — is a testament to the power of IGP to drive real-world impact and train the next generation.”
Mrs. Clinton added, “Our world is facing increasingly complex and urgent challenges, from the global rise of authoritarianism to the rapidly worsening impacts of climate change. I am thrilled to partner with Dean Yarhi-Milo to launch the Institute of Global Politics, which will bring world leaders and practitioners together in New York City to advance evidence-based policy in pursuit of a better world. There is no better time for this Institute, and no better place for it than at Columbia University.”
This week Mrs. Clinton, who graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 and then earned her law degree from Yale in 1973, gave her first lecture in the class she was co-teaching with Yarhi-Milo, entitled “Inside the Situation Room.” At Columbia, she will hold the title of Professor of International and Public Affairs.
The IGP plans to bring together scholars and other experts to address five global policy challenges that will loom large in the near future: geopolitical stability, democratic resilience, climate and sustainable development, inclusive prosperity and macroeconomic stability, and technology and innovation.
As part of its start-up, the IGP is hosting a cohort of Inaugural Carnegie Distinguished Fellows — 14 global leaders who will visit Columbia over the course of the 2023–2024 academic year. As part of their duties, the Fellows will work with SIPA faculty to draft policy papers on high priority topics. The fellows, who are being supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, include:
- Stacey Abrams, Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics at Howard University, Former Georgia House Minority Leader, Voting Rights Activist
- Michelle Bachelet, Former President of Chile and Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Shabana Basij-Rasikh, Cofounder and President of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA)
- Henrietta Fore, Former Executive Director of UNICEF
- Kim Ghattas, Author of Black Wave and contributing writer for The Atlantic magazine
- Michel Kazatchkine, Former Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
- Sir Stephen Lovegrove, Former UK National Security Adviser; Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia SIPA
- David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee; 74th UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- Frank Mugisha, Prominent Ugandan LGBTI Rights Advocate
- Robert O’Brien, Cofounder and Chairman of American Global Strategies LLC; 27th US National Security Advisor
- Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Journalist; Cofounder, CEO, and President of Rappler
- Eric Schmidt, Cofounder, Schmidt Futures; Former CEO and Chairman, Google
- John Sullivan, Former Deputy Secretary of State and US Ambassador to the Russian Federation
- Marie Yovanovitch, Former US Ambassador to Ukraine
“I could not be more excited about the launch of this new Institute, nor about what it will mean for our students and community,” said Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, as part of the announcement. “SIPA’s Institute of Global Politics will shape the next generation of global citizens through teaching, research, rigorous debate, and real world impact. It is exactly the kind of contribution you would want from a great university like Columbia.”
To celebrate the start of the IGP, the IGP Inaugural Carnegie Distinguished Fellows and other global leaders will come to Columbia’s campus for an Inaugural Summit, on October 3, 2023.
Read the full article here
