Established in 1975 and rededicated in 1988, the Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies develops comprehensive analytic insight into the relevant security challenges and threats present around the globe. From this starting point, the center investigates and analyzes past and emerging security problems. It seeks to generate original research, utilizing intellectual capital and a pragmatic approach, to address the vast array of issues faced by the U.S. and the international community.
- We focus on diverse challenges to international security — including the spread of international terrorism, counterinsurgency, political violence, emerging technology, space security and other critical issues faced by policymakers and the U.S. military.
- We produce original and impartial research on key contemporary security issues and make these analyses available to policymakers, scholars, journalists, and the public.
- Graduate students who take part in the Ridgway Center's working groups acquire the necessary skills to obtain leadership positions with the U.S. government, private sector, or academic community.
The core mission of the Ridgway Center is to contribute to the intellectual and policy debates about the world’s most pressing issues in international security studies. We seek to instill in every student and future leader “the vision to see, the wisdom to choose, and the courage to act.”
The Ridgway Center has hosted hundreds of talented students and faculty. Many former students have gone on to build successful careers in both the public and private sectors.