Message from the Founder

Dr. Colum de Sales Murphy, a native of Ireland, served the United Nations and International Community for more than 32 years. He has served on the staff of several Secretaries-General of the United Nations and worked for years in the UN Security Council and in peacekeeping. He is a specialist not only in human rights but in negotiations in conflict areas. He served the cause of peace in a number of wars – including in Somalia, Liberia and in Bosnia.

Choosing an institution for higher education isn’t easy! Your choice seems loaded with consequences for the precious years ahead. You know international Relations interests you. But you wonder about investing in this to earn your International Relations degree or to invest in other career paths or businesses. We attempt to address some of the more important criteria for you, the prospective student, who will be considering the choice you are about to make. And we give this advice only: study what you already find interesting. Throughout history the practice of diplomacy, and the study of what we now call “international relations”, has fascinated prince, politician and scholar alike. Yet today more than ever, in our increasingly shrinking modern world, there is an ever-growing need for trained professionals in the field. Governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations alike increasingly seek to hire the well-educated specialist. The business world too! GSD meets a growing modern need. This is a new element you need to take account of! With ever more globalized, international business outreach, the need for executives with an understanding of international relations is recognized as fast becoming a business essential. From multinational corporations to smaller international businesses, from globe-trotting journalist to the curious individual observer bombarded with international news, a new set of skills is needed. And these new tools will represent added-value in your qualifications. The Geneva School of Diplomacy will deepen your education. But it will also broaden your choices and future options – public or private! What will you be? – Ambassador, human rights officer, international trade or law expert, chief financial officer or CEO? GSD opens new doors. And while we cannot and do not promise jobs to our graduates, we at GSD make every effort, on an ongoing and continuous basis, to introduce our students to international professionals already working in related fields in Geneva and further afield. Our aim is to enhance the GSD graduate’s ability to find his or her own further career path in the years ahead. Ours, therefore, is a highly practical approach. It makes of our graduates more attractive job candidates for both governmental organisations and for multinational corporations in the business sector. As you have already understood, therefore, a prestigious GSD degree has both high educational as well as practical value. So in making this all-important choice of school, think of both your future and of what really interests you. It’s your life, after all! You will do better at those subjects that really attract you – as they fascinate us in this rapidly changing, dangerous but wonderful world! And if you want to discuss your upcoming choice on international studies, without any commitment whatsoever on your part, then just come and talk to us. Your future, and your career, is of paramount importance – for us, too, here at the incomparable Geneva School of Diplomacy. Think well!
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As UN Deputy Head of Political Affairs inside Bosnia, Murphy negotiated the Winter Ceasefire and later, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Bosnia in 1994. He spent a total of four years in Bosnia and his book: ‘Aza Beast’ – Attacking the Roots of War ‘won world-wide acclaim. Reviewing and praising the book in Foreign Affairs, Harvard’s Stanley Hoffmann described Murphy as “a deeply moral man”.