Areas of Concentration
Each concentration is guided by one or more of the major research centers at Stanford. This collaboration is very beneficial to our students and provides unparalleled exposure to cutting edge research on some of the most pressing policy issues of our time.
Democracy, Development and Rule of Law
Democracy, development, and the rule of law seeks to train students to assist developing countries and transitioning societies in the design and implementation of policies to foster democracy, balanced and sustainable development, and the rule of law. Attention is devoted to how best to harmonize the pursuit of each of these goals in the interest of helping to produce states and societies that are freer, richer, more law-abiding, and more transparent. An important dimension of the coursework is to help understand institutional arrangements at all levels of society to encourage greater responsibility and accountability in decision-making, both public and private.
Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law
Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources
Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources seeks to train students in understanding and solving complex international environmental problems by drawing on the fields of political science, law and economics. Students will be exposed to leading research in the field and primary emphasis will be placed on application of policy analysis in energy, environment, and natural resource problems as well as political, legal and economic aspects of the world's energy system
Center for Environmental Sciences and Policy
Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
Program on Food Security and the Environment
Global Health
Global health aims to provide students with a solid understanding of health services research concepts and methodologies. It combines health services research, health policy and health economics to teach students how to formulate effective laws and regulations governing health care. The major foci will be: international health systems comparisons, healthcare financing and the effects of structural changes in healthcare, effects of healthcare laws and regulations, and health disparities.
Global Justice
Global Justice aims to train students to apply normative ideas from moral and political philosophy towards human rights issues, global governance, and access to basic goods. The normative ideas and discussions will be guided by the best current social-scientific and policy thinking. Critical to the concentration are the issues that lie at the intersection of democratic norms and institutions.
International Negotiation and Conflict Management
International negotiation and conflict management will train students in the complex issues that converge at the intersection of international law, international relations, and social psychology. In addition to traditional study of research and theory, emphasis will be placed on real world conflict and bridging the gap between theory and practice. Of special importance will be the comprehension of international and intergroup conflict and negotiation.
Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation
International Political Economy
International political economy will focus on understanding the causes of the following: economic growth in developing and transition economies, the role of international trade in improving economic welfare around the world, and the impact of the international financial system on the world economy. Students will study the world economic system and become skilled in improving economic conditions in an increasingly globalized world. A critical objective will be to promote economic development and to enhance the efficiency of the international economic system.
Stanford Center for International Development
Security and Cooperation
International security and cooperation aims to utilize its multidisciplinary community to train students in issues of international security. Special focus will be given to addressing three broad areas of concern, often with important overlaps: nuclear weapons policy, proliferation, and regional tensions; homeland security issues; and more effective global engagement.
Center for International Security and Cooperation