Our Mission
The Washington International Diplomatic Academy (WIDA) is the world's only independent practical diplomacy school. We provide practical professional training in diplomacy and international affairs to both current and aspiring diplomats, as well as professionals in government, NGOs and the private sector. We do not confer academic degrees.
Much of diplomacy today is practiced by untrained officials, eroding competence at a time of deep rupture in the global order. Our mission is to strengthen and elevate professional diplomacy by helping to educate the next generation of diplomats.
Our Leadership
Nicholas Kralev
FOUNDER AND CEO
Kralev is a former Financial Times and Washington Times correspondent. He witnessed firsthand the conduct of American diplomacy while accompanying four U.S. secretaries of state on their travels around the world — Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright. His books include "Diplomatic Tradecraft" and "America’s Other Army."
Our Faculty
One classroom,
16 Ambassadors
Our instructors teach the practical skills, methods, judgment and professional habits they honed at the highest levels of government over decades.
AmbassadorKate Byrnes
Byrnes is a former U.S. ambassador to Northern Macedonia, and former deputy chief of mission in Greece and the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. During her 30 years in the Foreign Service, she was also posted to Spain, Bolivia, Hungary and Turkey.
AmbassadorWilliam Burns
Burns is a former U.S. deputy secretary of state. A retired career ambassador in the Foreign Service, where he spent 32 years, he was also undersecretary of state for political affairs, assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, and ambassador to Russia and Jordan. He is a former director of the CIA.
AmbassadorCindy Courville
Courville is a former ambassador to the African Union and senior director for African affairs at the National Security Council. A former civil servant, she also worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Assistant secretaryTom Countryman
Countryman is a former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation. During his 34-year Foreign Service career, he served in Serbia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and at the United Nations. He is chairman of the Arms Control Association.
AmbassadorJanice Jacobs
Jacobs is a former assistant secretary of state for consular affairs. She was ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau and deputy chief of mission in the Dominican Republic. During her 34-year Foreign Service career, she also served in Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Mexico, Nigeria and Thailand.
AmbassadorMichael Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick is a former ambassador to Ecuador and head of the U.S. mission to the Organization of American States. During nearly 39 years in the Foreign Service, he was also deputy chief of mission in Peru and Paraguay, and deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.
AmbassadorThomas Miller
Miller is a former ambassador to Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and special coordinator for Cyprus negotiations. During nearly 30 years in the Foreign Service, he was also posted to Thailand. He is a former CEO of the United Nations Association.
AmbassadorAnthony Wayne
Wayne is a former assistant secretary of state for economic, energy and business affairs, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs and ambassador to Mexico and Argentina. His Foreign Service career spanned 40 years.
AmbassadorDaniel Fried
Fried is a former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, and former senior director for European affairs on the National Security Council. During his four decades in the Foreign Service, he was ambassador to Poland and also served in Russia and Serbia.
AmbassadorCharles Ray
Ray is a former ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia, deputy chief of mission in Sierra Leone, and consul-general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A retired U.S. Army officer, he also served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for prisoners of war and missing personnel affairs.
AmbassadorLisa Kubiske
Kubiske is a former ambassador to Honduras and deputy chief of mission in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. During her 35-year Foreign Service career, she also served in Mexico, China and Hong Kong, and was deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.
AmbassadorThomas Pickering
Pickering is a former undersecretary of state for political affairs. During more than four decades in the Foreign Service, he was ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, Jordan, Nigeria, El Salvador and the United Nations. He also served as executive secretary of the State Department.
AmbassadorJimmy Kolker
Kolker is a former assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. During his 30-year Foreign Service career, he was ambassador to Uganda and Burkina Faso, deputy chief of mission in Denmark and Botswana, and also served in Britain and Sweden.
AmbassadorEunice Reddick
Reddick is a former ambassador to Niger, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe. During almost four decades in the Foreign Service, she also served in Burundi, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, China and Taiwan, and held several senior positions at the State Department in Washington, focusing on Africa and Asia.
AmbassadorFrancis Ricciardone
Ricciardone is a former ambassador to Turkey, Egypt and the Philippines, and deputy ambassador to Afghanistan. During his 36 years in the Foreign Service, he was also posted to Britain and Jordan and held several senior positions at the State Department.
AmbassadorJames Zumwalt
Zumwalt is a former ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau and deputy chief of mission in Japan. During 36 years in the Foreign Service, he was also deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and served in China and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Summer Diplomatic Academy
8–30 July 2026
One-Year Certificate in International Diplomacy
28 September 2026 — 7 May 2027
Our Textbook
Our Podcast
