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— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

~3 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
5 sections
  • The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs was founded in 2000, and it began with a question that still drives it today: who gets to shape the conversation about how nations deal with one another? Published under the umbrella of the Walsh School of Foreign Service, the journal sits at one of America's most storied institutions for diplomacy and global policy. It does not belong to a faculty committee or a single editorial voice. It belongs to students. The questions the rest of this documentary will explore are: how does a student-run publication earn a place alongside peer-reviewed scholarship? What does it actually cover? And what happens to the people who pass through its editorial rooms?

  • Seven distinct editorial sections give the journal its shape: Conflict and Security, Global Governance, Human Rights and Development, Business and Economics, Science and Technology, Society and Culture, and Dialogues. Each section has its own editorial team, which means the coverage is genuinely broad rather than tilted toward any one discipline. The print edition appears annually, published by Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of the Walsh School. The journal is indexed in Columbia International Affairs Online, ProQuest databases, Hein Online, Thomson Gale, and the Public Affairs Information Service. That index coverage means researchers around the world can locate its articles through the same channels they use to find scholarship from far older publications. The online edition runs on its own editorial calendar, with Roman Messali and Sofia Wolinski serving as editors-in-chief, while the print edition is led by Julio Wang and Yuki Zhang.

  • Behind the editorial sections sits an Operations team that holds the whole enterprise together. Managing Editor Kate Huntley leads that side of the organization. A separate Development section, headed by Executive Director Ewan Wilson, handles the institutional and financial work that keeps a student journal solvent and growing. The arrangement reflects a deliberate choice to treat the journal less like a class project and more like a working media organization, with functional departments that mirror what a professional publication requires. That organizational discipline is part of what lets student editors publish work that reaches the same databases as established academic journals.

  • The journal's official podcast carries a name drawn from the address of Georgetown University itself: 37th and The World. Undergraduate and graduate student editors host the conversations, sitting across from scholars and practitioners who are actively working on the issues under discussion. The podcast is built around a direct exchange with people shaping global trends, not a recap of what those people have already published. That format gives students hands-on experience in journalistic interviewing while putting the journal's reach beyond the printed page and into an audio format that a general audience can find.

  • Ned Price served as Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State and, before that, as a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama. His path through the journal traces one version of what the publication can lead to: a career at the intersection of policy communication and government service. Parag Khanna, a specialist in international relations and managing partner of the advisory firm FutureMap, represents a different trajectory, moving into the private and consultancy world while remaining a prominent voice in global affairs. Both figures passed through the same editorial environment that student editors navigate today, which makes the journal something of a quiet incubator for careers that eventually shape the conversations it was founded to host.

Common questions

What is the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs?

The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering international affairs, published by Johns Hopkins University Press on behalf of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. It was established in 2000 and features articles from international and interdisciplinary perspectives.

When was the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs founded?

The journal was founded in 2000. It is published annually in print, with an online edition maintained separately.

What databases index the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs?

The journal is indexed in Columbia International Affairs Online, ProQuest databases, Hein Online, Thomson Gale, and the Public Affairs Information Service.

What is the 37th and The World podcast?

37th and The World is the official podcast of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. Student editors host conversations with scholars and practitioners on key global trends and critical international issues.

Who are notable alumni of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs?

Notable alumni include Ned Price, who served as Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State and as a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama, and Parag Khanna, a specialist in international relations and managing partner of FutureMap.

How is the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs organized editorially?

The journal has seven editorial sections: Conflict and Security, Global Governance, Human Rights and Development, Business and Economics, Science and Technology, Society and Culture, and Dialogues. It also has an Operations section led by Managing Editor Kate Huntley and a Development section led by Executive Director Ewan Wilson.

All sources

6 references cited across the entry

  1. 5journalFront Matter2005
  2. 6journalFront Matter2000