Institute for Global Security

Faculty Director: Professor Daryl Press

Staff Director: Thomas Candon
Great Issues Fellow: TBA

The Davidson Institute for Global Security at the Dickey Center advances Dartmouth's contributions to international security through research designed to improve policymaking, promoting direct engagement with foreign policymakers, and inspiring students to explore careers in international affairs. The Davidson Institute pursues this mission with two guiding intentions: to generate and disseminate new knowledge of critical importance to global peace and to prepare the next generation of leaders to create policy impact in a complex security environment, marked by a return to great power competition, civil wars, and novel emerging threats. The Institute oversees several programmatic areas. The problems of peace and war demand multifaceted solutions that require the study of such diverse fields as government, history, literature, languages, sociology, environmental studies, geography, anthropology, psychology, and economics.

The Jean Monnet Fund for War and Peace Studies, which is part of the Dickey Center’s endowment, was established in 1985 by John C. Baker and Elizabeth Baker to honor the Dartmouth trustees who had the vision in 1961 to award Jean Monnet an honorary degree. It was also to honor the three founders of War and Peace Studies at Dartmouth College: Leonard Reiser, Elise Boulding, and Peter Bien.

The Davidson Institute administers the War and Peace Fellows program for students and presents a series of public speakers, hosts simulations, coordinates trips to Washington, DC and abroad, and organizes other events. The faculty coordinator for the Fellowship program is Associate Professor of Government Kathleen Powers.

In 2021, the U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security Postdoctoral Fellowship program was named in honor of E. John Rosenwald, Jr. '52 TU'53 for his contributions to Dartmouth and the Fellowship program. The Fellows are selected to spend a minimum of ten months, and up to one or two years, in-residence at Dartmouth researching and writing about issues of international security and foreign policy. The program hosts 5-7 Fellows annually and has over 100 alumni. The faculty coordinator for the Rosenwald Postdoctoral Fellows program is Associate Professor of Government Jeffrey Friedman.

The Davidson Institute also provides support to the Political Violence FieldLab, which is overseen by the James Wright Chair in Transnational Studies and Associate Professor of Government Jason Lyall, provides funding for internships focused on peace and security and for faculty research, hosts an annual security conference in Washington, DC, and brings distinguished visiting practitioners to campus for extended periods. In the 2022-23 year, the Initiative launched a Distinguished Visiting Fellows program, which welcomes accomplished faculty whose research focuses on issues of international security for periods of time ranging from a few weeks to a full academic year.