Programs and Events
Former Director of Policy Planning Dr. Stephen Krasner Enlightens Helsinki Audiences
Stanford Professor of International Relations Dr. Stephen Krasner, former Director of Policy Planning in the Department of State, spoke to Finnish audiences on the realities of policy planning in foreign affairs during a program on September 24-26, 2007. In presentations at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the University of Helsinki and in discussions with journalists, Dr. Krasner explained that policy practitioners, who must make decisions based on current, imperfect knowledge, do not have the luxury of trying to fit their actions into a grand, theoretical scheme of things (as academics, analyzing past events with the aid of archives and interviews, try to do). He also emphasized that transformational diplomacy represents an attempt to address the new foreign affairs and security challenges of our age, which often have more to do with the internal processes of other states rather than with nation-to-nation relations.