Centre for International Studies (CERI)

Centre for International Studies (CERI)
Name	Centre for International Studies (CERI)
Formation	1958
Headquarters	Paris, France
Parent organization	Sciences Po

Centre for International Studies (CERI) is a research institute based at Sciences Po in Paris focused on comparative and international political analysis. Founded during the Cold War era, CERI engages scholars across area studies and thematic fields, linking empirical work on United States foreign policy, Soviet Union, China, and European Union integration with theoretical debates shaped by figures associated with Political Science and International Relations. The centre hosts multidisciplinary teams examining state behavior in crises such as the Suez Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War, while contributing policy-relevant insight to institutions like the United Nations, the European Commission, and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

History

CERI was established in 1958 amid postwar reconstruction and the emergence of the Cold War as a structuring international rivalry involving the United States, the Soviet Union, and newly independent states from the India-led Non-Aligned Movement. Early work connected to scholars influenced by debates from the League of Nations successor institutions and the intellectual legacies of the Marshall Plan era, producing analyses relevant to crises including the Berlin Blockade and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. During the 1970s and 1980s CERI expanded its scope to cover Latin America transitions exemplified by Chile and Argentina and African decolonization with case studies on Algeria and Congo Crisis. The post-1991 period saw reorientation toward issues linked to European Union enlargement, NATO transformation after the Kosovo War, and the rise of China and India as major actors. In the 2000s CERI integrated networks with research institutes such as Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Brookings Institution, and Chatham House to address global governance topics including responses to the 2008 financial crisis and the Arab Spring.

Mission and Research Focus

CERI’s mission foregrounds comparative analysis of state strategies and transnational processes, bringing together specialists on regions including East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Research priorities link empirical casework on crises like the Iran–Iraq War and the Syrian Civil War to theoretical traditions rooted in debates from scholars associated with the Realist tradition, the Constructivist tradition, and historical institutionalism tracing trajectories similar to the Treaty of Rome. The centre emphasizes policy relevance for actors such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the European Central Bank, while engaging methodological innovations from comparative-historical analysis exemplified by work on the Meiji Restoration, the Orange Revolution, and the Rwandan Genocide.

Organizational Structure and Governance

CERI operates within Sciences Po under a governance framework involving a director, an executive committee, and advisory boards that include international scholars from institutions such as Columbia University, London School of Economics, and Université Harvard. The organisational model parallels governance arrangements found at institutes like the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich research centres, balancing appointed research chairs with competitive doctoral programmes and postdoctoral fellowships. Funding streams have included grants from bodies such as the European Research Council, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, and foundations like the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Academic Programs and Training

CERI contributes to graduate and doctoral education at Sciences Po through specialised seminars, a doctoral school, and joint degrees in partnership with universities including Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Peking University. Training emphasises fieldwork and archival methods used in studies of episodes like the Soviet–Afghan War, the Nicaraguan Revolution, and the Northern Ireland conflict (The Troubles), alongside quantitative approaches applied to datasets referenced by the Correlates of War project and the Polity IV project. The centre supervises PhD candidates who later take positions at institutions such as Stanford University, Yale University, University of Oxford, University of Tokyo, and Australian National University.

Research Centres, Projects, and Publications

CERI hosts thematic research clusters on topics that include comparative foreign policy, political violence, and development governance, producing working papers and monographs published with presses like Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Routledge. Major projects have examined the geopolitics of resources in contexts involving Russia and Ukraine, energy diplomacy tied to OPEC, and maritime disputes in the South China Sea. The centre’s publication series and journals have featured contributions addressing events such as the Iranian Revolution (1979), the Peace of Westphalia legacy, and the institutional dynamics of the European Court of Human Rights.

Collaborations and Partnerships

CERI maintains partnerships with academic and policy organisations including United Nations University, European University Institute, Institute of Development Studies, American Political Science Association, and think tanks like Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and RAND Corporation. Collaborative fieldwork initiatives have involved research on post-conflict reconstruction in places such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, transitional justice projects linked to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and climate-security assessments connected to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Notable Faculty and Alumni

Faculty and alumni associated with CERI have included prominent scholars and practitioners who later served in roles linked to institutions such as the European Parliament, French National Assembly, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and diplomatic postings to United States Department of State and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). Notable figures connected through visiting positions or fellowships include researchers who have written on the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and the evolution of ASEAN integration, with career trajectories reaching institutions like Princeton University, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, Tokyo University, and King’s College London.

Category:Research institutes Category:Sciences Po