Ceris - Official

17/06/2026

On the occasion of the CERIS Graduation Ceremony, Professor Laura Hammond, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange and Professor of Development Studies at SOAS – University of London, will deliver a conference entitled “Rethinking Development in the Context of a Changing Global Order “ on June 26, 2026.
“The current moment presents grave challenges to those studying, teaching, researching and working in development and its related fields. The closure of USAID, the defunding of the United Nations and its implementing NGOs, cutting of research budgets relating to climate change, social justice, human rights, and diversity, equality and inclusion both domestically and internationally, and restrictions on immigration all present existential challenges to the work that we do. Or do they? I argue here that there has never been a more important time to study and research these dynamics. The social, political and economic challenges that we are experiencing now will transform what we understand as developmental processes, how they happen, who controls them, and who benefits from them. Our engagement with development may need to change – and some would argue that change is long overdue – but this is no time to look away.”

Professor Laura Hammond has been conducting research on conflict, food security, refugees, migration and diasporas in and from the Horn of Africa since the early 1990s. She lived in Ethiopia from 1993-2000, conducting research and working for the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (the precursor to UNOCHA). Among her research activities, she is PI of the Impact Acceleration Account on Migration, Displacement, Minorities and Marginalisation.
She is also Co-Director of the Work Package on Poverty and Inequalities for the Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ) Research Hub on South-South Migration. She is Team Leader of the EU Trust Fund’s Research and Evidence Facility on migration and conflict in the Horn of Africa, and Team Leader of the London International Development Centre's Migration Leadership Team. She has done consultancy for a wide range of development and humanitarian organisations, including UNDP, USAID, Oxfam, Medécins Sans Frontières, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the World Food Programme.
She is the author of ‘This Place Will Become Home: Refugee Repatriation to Ethiopia’ (Cornell University Press: 2004), editor (with Christopher Cramer and Johan Pottier of Researching Violence in Africa: Ethical and Methodological Challenges [Brill 2011] and several books and journal articles.

28/05/2026

Professor Admasu Shiferaw (College of William & Mary, USA) will deliver the lecture on “African Socioeconomic Development” on Saturday May 30th, 2026 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admasu Shiferaw is Associate Professor of Economics and Africana Studies at The College of William and Mary, USA. Admasu Shiferaw joined the College of William and Mary in the Fall of 2011 as a faculty member of the Economics Department and the Africana Studies program. Before that Admasu has been a research fellow at the Courant Research Center, University of Göttingen, Germany; and a lecturer at the International Institute of Social Studies (IISS)-The Hague of the Erasmus University-Rotterdam. His research interests are in development economics, industry dynamics and international competitiveness. His recent research includes firm level analysis of productivity, investment and employment dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Admasu enjoys teaching development economics, African economic development, and econometrics. Admasu received his undergraduate degree from Alemaya University, Ethiopia and his M.A and Ph.D in Development Economics from the International Institute of Social Studies-ISS Den Haag of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands.

26/05/2026

Mr. Mvemba Phezo Dizolele (Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, Dizolele Advisory) will deliver the lecture on “Changing Security Imperatives in the Great Lakes under Donald Trump” on Friday May 29th, 2026 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mr. Mvemba Phezo Dizolele is a policy analyst and advisor specializing in African security, governance, and geopolitical strategy. He is the founder and managing director of Dizolele Advisory LLC, a Washington, DC–based research and analysis firm, and a lecturer in African Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). With more than two decades of experience working on Africa’s political and security dynamics, Dizolele advises governments, multilateral institutions, and Fortune 500 companies on conflict trends, regional stability, and strategic risk across the continent. His work focuses on the intersection of governance, armed conflict, and regional power competition. He previously held senior positions at the International Republican Institute, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and GoodWorks International, where he contributed to policy discussions on African security, political transitions, and economic development. Dizolele is the author of the forthcoming Mobutu: The Rise and Fall of the Leopard King, a major biography examining the legacy of one of Africa’s most consequential Cold War–era leaders. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago, is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He speaks eight languages, including French, Norwegian, and Spanish.

20/05/2026

Professor em. Marc Bossuyt (Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, Former President of the Belgian constitutional Court) will deliver the lecture on "Human Rights” on Saturday May 23rd, 2026 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Professor Marc Bossuyt is "docteur en droit" of the University of Ghent and "docteur ès sciences politiques" of the University of Geneva. He is a specialist in the field of international law and human rights. He has consecutively performed the following functions: Human Rights Officer at the United Nations (1975-1977); member (1981-1985, 1992-1999, 2004-2006) and president (2006) of the UN Sub-Commission on the Protection and the Promotion of Human Rights; representative of Belgium (1986-1991) and president (1989) of the UN Commission on Human Rights; member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2000-2003; 2014-); Commissioner General for refugees and stateless persons (1987-1997); member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (since 2004). Professor Marc Bossuyt is also Emeritus Professor of the University of Antwerp (since 2007) and Emeritus President of the Constitutional Court of Belgium (since 2014).

19/05/2026

Professor Alfredo Saad-Filho (Queen’s University, Belfast) will deliver the lecture on “Political and Economic Development of Latin America” on Friday May 22nd, 2026 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday May 23rd, 2026 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Alfredo Saad-Filho is Professor of International Relations at Queen’s University, Belfast. Previously, he was Professor of Political Economy and International Development in the Department of International Development at King's college, London (2021-2022). He was Professor of Political Economy at School of Oriental & African Studies - SOAS, University of London (2000-2019); Chair of the SOAS Department of Development Studies (2006-10); Head of SOAS Doctoral School (2018-19); and Senior Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2011-12). Alfredo was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Medal from the Federal University of Goiás, Brazil in 2014 and the SOAS Director’s Teaching Prize in 2016. He has degrees in Economics from the University of Brasília (Brazil) and SOAS University of London and has taught in universities and research institutions in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mozambique, Switzerland and the UK. His academic publications include nine authored or edited books, 70 journal articles and 50 book chapters, as well as 30 reports and other contributions for the United Nations and other international agencies (UNCTAD, UNDP, UN-ESCWA, and UN-DESA). His work has been published in 15 languages and presented over 200 academic events in 30 countries. These writings range across critiques of the (Post-)Washington consensus; International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank policies and pro-poor policy alternatives. They also include concrete analyses of fiscal, monetary, financial, balance of payments and employment policies, as well as inflation targeting, resource use (including ‘resource curse’ and Dutch Disease) and policy-making in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America (especially Brazil) and the Middle East.

04/05/2026

October 2026 Intake Now Open - To benefit from the early Bird registration rate (10% discount), the booking fee must be received by June 20th, 2026.

Advance Your Career in International Affairs. In a fast-changing global environment, professionals in diplomacy, international relations, and global governance must continuously evolve. Since 1985, CERIS has been empowering diplomats, civil servants, NGO leaders, and international executives with high-level executive education designed to meet today’s global challenges. Testimonials: https://www.ceris.be/about-us/testimonials/

Programmes starting October 2026:
• Executive Master in International Politics (Certificate -1 year / 60 ECTS): https://www.ceris.be/course/executive-master-in-international-politics/

• Executive Master in Governance & Development Policy (Certificate- 1 year / 60 ECTS): https://www.ceris.be/course/executive-master-in-development-policy/

📅 Flexible format: Weekend courses (Friday evenings & Saturdays)
💻 Blended and full-distance learning available worldwide

Short Trainings:
• NEW: "AI for Policymakers: Foundation . Governance . Geopolitics" - No technical background of AI is required: https://www.ceris.be/course/ai-for-policymakers/
📍 July 10–11, 2026 (2 Days Intensive Training with Ajit Jaokar)
⚠️ Limited places – first come, first served

• Strategic Negotiation : https://www.ceris.be/course/strategic-negotiation/
📍 dates to be confirmed (3 Days Intensive Training with professor Guy Olivier Faure)

💡 Why CERIS?
->An international institution dedicated to professionals, specialising in international relations, development, and diplomacy
->Over 40 years of experience in continuing professional education
->Courses delivered by renowned professors and leading experts from international institutions
->A prestigious global network of participants and alumni across 5 continents
->Programs accessible worldwide through a Distance Learning Programme
->Located in Brussels, at the heart of global diplomacy, home to key institutions such as the European Union and NATO

📢 Applications are now open: https://www.ceris.be/apply/
🎯 Discount available: April 10 – May 20, 2026
🔗 Learn more: www.ceris.be
📩 [email protected]

21/04/2026

AI for Policymakers : Foundation . Governance . Geopolitics – No technical background of AI is required : https://www.ceris.be/blog/ai-for-policymakers-two-days-intensive-training-with-ajit-jaokar-oxford-university-10th-11th-july-2026/

Two Days Intensive Training with Ajit Jaokar (Course director for several AI programs at the University of Oxford). Places are very limited (first come, first served). Fees: 3.000 Euros (including the booking fees of 2.000 Euros). Deadline: Monday 10th June, 2026 (Early bird rate 10% discount in April and May 2026).

19/04/2026

We thank professor Fawaz A. Gerges (LSE) for the original and interesting lecture delivered at the CERIS-Diplomatic School of Brussels on “A Rupture in the International Relations of the Middle East” on Saturday April 18th, 2026 as well as for the very interesting debate which followed his presentation

18/04/2026

The Great Betrayal - The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East by Gerges A. Fawaz (Princeton University Press, 2025) :

The Great Betrayal (Couverture rigide). How the Middle East can achieve political change and social progressThe Middle East is in upheaval: a widening...

15/04/2026

Professor Fawaz A. Gerges (LSE) will deliver the lecture on "A Rupture in the International Relations of the Middle East” on Saturday April 18th, 2026 from 14:00 a.m. to 18:00 p.m. Mr. Fawaz A. Gerges is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and holder of the Emirates Professorship in Contemporary Middle East Studies. He was also the inaugural Director of the LSE Middle East Centre from 2010 until 2013. He earned a doctorate from Oxford University and M. Sc. from the London School of Economics. Gerges has taught at Oxford, Harvard, and Columbia, and was a research scholar at Princeton and the chairholder of the Christian A. Johnson Chair in Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs at Sarah Lawrence College, New York. His special interests include Islam and the political process, social movements, including mainstream Islamist movements and jihadist groups (like the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda), Arab politics and Muslim politics in the 20th century, the international relations of the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, state and society in the Middle East, American foreign policy towards the Muslim world, the modern history of the Middle East, history of conflict, diplomacy and foreign policy, and historical sociology. Professor Fawaz A. Gerges’ most recent books include: What Really Went Wrong: The West and the failure of democracy in the Middle East (Yale University Press, 2024), Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash that Shaped the Middle East (Princeton University Press, 2018), ISIS: A History (Princeton University Press, 2016), Contentious Politics in the Middle East: Popular Resistance and Marginalized Activism beyond the Arab Uprising (Palgrave MacMillan, 2015) and The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World (Cambridge University Press, January 2014).