The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) was established by P.D. 1060 on December 9, 1976 as the career development arm of the Department of Foreign Affairs.  It was also tasked to provide training to personnel of all government agencies assigned to Philippine foreign missions.  Beginning 1987, the FSI was mandated to provide research assistance to the DFA and to participate in the Department's planning review process.  The Philippine Foreign Service Act of 1991 (R.A. 7157) further specified the FSI's mandate as follows:

• to serve as the center for the development and professionalization of the career foreign service corps;
• to serve as a research institution on issues and problems with foreign policy implications, global and regional strategies and management of foreign affairs; and
• to serve as the institutional consultant of the Department on matters related to foreign policies and programs as well as development management, planning and review.

A five-person Board of Foreign Service Institute, chaired by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, is the Institute's governing body.

The Institute is headed by the Director who is a senior career Chief-of-Mission with the title of Assistant Secretary.  The Director is assisted by the Assistant Director who comes from the academe, and the heads of the Administrative and Financial Services Division (AFSD), the Center for Career Foreign Service Development (CCFSD), and the Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS).

FSI academic operations are performed by the CCFSD as a training unit and the CIRSS as a research unit.

Support services are provided by the Administrative and Financial Services Division.
 

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

Training

The Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) was established as a unit of FSI in 1993 as a research institution on foreign policy issues and global and regional strategies for the management of foreign affairs.

The Center has three sections -- Strategic and Security Studies Section, International Organizations Section, and Area Studies Section.  Through its studies, CIRSS provides assessment of the international and Asia-Pacific environments, and analyses of their implications for the Philippines.

The Carlos P. Romulo Library has a collection of approximately 10,000 volumes of books and subscriptions to 183 newspapers, journals and magazines, both domestic and foreign.  It also serves as depository of annual/post reports of Philippine foreign service establishments and original copies of treaties/agreements entered into by the Philippine government.

CENTER FOR CAREER FOREIGN SERVICE DEVELOPMENT (CCFSD)
TRAINING PROGRAMS 1998
 

I. CORE PROGRAM

Senior Executive Training Program

II. PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL PROGRAM

Course on Political and Economic Reporting
Finance Officers' Course
Seminar-Workshop on Protocol, Social Graces and Etiquette
Seminar-Workshop on Budget Preparation
Seminar-Workshop on the Liquidation of Cash Advances
Course on International Conflict Resolution and Preventive Diplomacy (Conflict Analysis, Negotiation and Mediation)
Assistance to Nationals
  - Seminar-Workshop on Human Rights
-  Seminar on Labor Migration and  Providing Support Systems for OFWs
-  Orientation Program Towards Enhancing Responsiveness to OFWs
-  Seminar on Crisis Management
-  Information Gathering and Accessing NGOs
Economic Diplomacy
-  Course on Tourism Promotion
-  Course on Investment Promotion
-  Course on Export Trade Promotion
Course on International Trade
-  Microeconomics for Trade Policy Analysis
-  Macroeconomics in the Global Economy
-  International Trade Theory
-  International Trade Law
Course on Multilateral Relations and Diplomacy Training (in cooperation with UNITAR)
-  Multilateral Diplomacy
-  International Economics
-  International Law
-  Skills Training
Trade and Commercial Diplomacy
- Trade Policy Analysis and Negotiation
-  Laws and Institutions Governing World Commerce
-  International Trade Organizations
-  International Trade Law
-  Regional Trade Institutions
-  Overviews of Trade Laws and Organizational Structures of Other Countries and Regions
Computer Applications Courses in MS Excel, Word, Access and Powerpoint
Values Orientation Workshop
Course on Public Relations

III. LANGUAGE PROGRAM

Language Courses
- Bahasa Indonesia   -  Nihongo
- French    -  Spanish
- German    -  Proficiency Course
- Mandarin
Self-Study Program for DFA Personnel Due for Foreign Assignment
English Language Review Course
Writing Memos and Letters

IV. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

English Language Program for Diplomats from Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam Based in Manila (Intermediate Level and Advanced Levels)
Seminar-Workshop on the Analysis of Foreign Policy for ASEAN Mid-Career Level Diplomats

V.  GRADUATE STUDIES (Joint Program with the University of the  Philippines)

Master of Arts in International Studies
Master of Arts in Asian Studies
Master of Arts in Philippine Studies
Master of Arts in Public Administration
Master of Arts in Economics
Ph.D. in Political Science
 

CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (CIRSS)

By mandate of the Philippine Foreign Service Act of 1991 or RA 7158, the FSI maintains a Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS).

It undertakes studies in support of the formulation, review and dissemination of Philippine foreign policy.  It also provides channels for interaction, cooperation and integration of the efforts of local and foreign experts from government, private and academic sectors on foreign policy issues and their domestic implications.

In support of these functions, the Center is currently composed of three sections.

STRATEGIC AN SECURITY STUDIES SECTION

This unit seeks to conduct both anticipatory and reactive studies on global and regional issues, problems and forces and their probable impact on the Philippines.  It tries to identify Philippine interests within changing Asia-Pacific security environment, as well appropriate foreign policy alternatives and responses.  This unit also examines the various territorial and other disputes in East Asia, and the processes of confidence building as well as requirements for peaceful settlement of disputes.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SECTION

This section looks at the development of international organizations and their impact on the Philippines.  It also studies the extent of Philippine participation in various international organizations, the benefits the country derives from such, as well as possible policy options and responses.

AREA STUDIES SECTION

The area studies section seeks to undertake interdisciplinary studies on important regions of the world.  It hopes to monitor significant developments in respective regions specifically as these impinge on Philippine interests and relations with these regions.  The sub-units under area studies are:

 Southeast Asia-ASEAN-Oceania  Russia-CIS
 Northeast Asia    Latin America-Mecosur
 North America-NAFTA   South and West Asia-SAARC
 Europe-EU-NATO    Africa

CARLOS P. ROMULO LIBRARY

The Library caters to the DFA, other government and non-government institutions, and academe.  It provides reference services for inquiries and literature searching; as well as information services through its Current Awareness Bulletin, Library Update, World Events Periodical Index, and the publications of Special Subject Bibliographies.
 

FSI PUBLICATIONS 1995-1997

1995

National Marine Policy; The North American Free Trade Agreement:  Policy Implications on the Philippines; Philippine Policy Perspectives on Russia, Central Asia and Other Soviet Successor States; Labor Migration:  Issues for DFA Personnel in Servicing Migrant Workers; Philippine Foreign Policy: Statements of Tomas R. Padilla; Regulations of the Department of Foreign Affairs; Free Trade in the ASEAN and its Implications in the Environment: A Comparative Critique of Environmental Impact Assessment Systems

1996

Filipinos in Blue Helmets:  Philippine Perspectives on Peacekeeping
Philippine Foreign Policy Overview (Sec. Siazon's presentation)
The Philippines in ASEAN:  An Assessment of 27 Years of Cooperation in Selected Functional Areas; The Philippine National Territory:  A collection of Related Documents; Philippine Trade and Economic Agreements (1983-1994); Preparing for the 21st Century:  Challenges of Philippine Foreign Policy (Speeches of Sec. Siazon, May '95 - April '96); The Road to Subic (Selected Speeches on APEC by Filipino Leaders)

1997

Philippine Policy Statements, 47th UNGA; Philippine Policy Statements, 48th UNGA; The National Maritime Policy:  Selected Papers
Deepening the ASEAN-Euro Partnership:  An Assessment of ASEAN-EU Relations from the Philippine Perspective; The 1996 Primer on Philippine Diplomacy and the Department of Foreign Affairs; Philippine Policy Perspectives on Greater China; Philippine Foreign Policy Statements of Tomas R. Padilla, Vol. 2; An International Perspective on the Philosophy of Islamic Fundamentalism; Negotiating in the United Nations:  Three Philippine Proposals, by Carlos P. Romulo