Executive
Certificate in

Geopolitical Analysis and Strategy

Build a team that can turn geopolitical change into coordinated decisions.

Give professionals across your organization a shared method for assessing complex environments, mapping power and dependencies, comparing strategic options, and presenting a recommended course of action with confidence.
BRING THIS PROGRAM TO YOUR ORGANIZATION

Program Details

FORMAT
Five live days
Highly interactive
COHORT
Private organizational group
DELIVERY
In person, live virtual, or hybrid
APPLICATION
Customized cases and capstone
CREDENTIAL
IAG Executive Certificate
ANALYZE
MAP
CHOOSE
EXECUTE
ADAPT

Program Overview

A five-day executive education program focused on applied geopolitical analysis and strategic decision-making.

Geopolitical developments increasingly shape markets, supply chains, investment, regulation, security, technology, and public policy. The challenge is not simply finding more information. It is determining what matters, understanding why it matters, and translating geopolitical change into decisions.

The Executive Certificate in Geopolitical Analysis and Strategy equips professionals with a structured, repeatable process for doing that work. Across five live, highly interactive days, participants apply IAG’s integrated methodology to environmental assessment, actor and relationship analysis, strategic choice, implementation, and adaptation.

Focused instruction is combined with guided analysis, case studies, team exercises, and faculty feedback. The program culminates in a capstone strategic assessment in which participants apply the full methodology to a consequential real-world challenge and present a concise, decision-oriented briefing.

PROGRAM DISTINCTION

A stand-alone executive program
This five-day live program has its own curriculum and completion requirements. It is separate from IAG's five-course Certificate in Applied Geopolitics

Capabilities Participants Develop

By the end of the program, participants will be prepared to:

Assess geopolitical actors and operating environments through a structured, multidimensional framework.

Map interests, power, dependencies, leverage, and relationship dynamics.

Translate geopolitical developments into risks, opportunities, and strategic implications.

Develop scenarios and identify strategic-warning indicators.

Compare strategic options, including their assumptions, trade-offs, and likely consequences.

Connect strategic choices to implementation priorities and coordinated action.

Deliver concise, decision-oriented assessments to leaders, clients, and stakeholders.

The IAG Method

Participants use IAG’s Geostrategic Management Process as an integrated professional workflow:

01

ANALYZE

COMPASS
02

MAP

IPM + 5x5
03

CHOOSE

GSM
04

EXECUTE

GSIF
05

ADAPT

Feedback and recalibration

One connected process: The COMPASS Framework, Interest-Power Matrix, 5x5 Conflict Analysis Framework, Geopolitical Strategy Matrix, and Geopolitical Strategy Implementation Framework move participants from environmental assissment to strategic choice, implementaion, and continuous adaptation.

Five Days of Applied Learning

Each day advances participants through one part of the methodology and prepares them for the integrated capstone.
DAY
01
MODULE

Foundations and the Geopolitical Environment

FOCUS
Establish a shared foundation in applied geopolitics and connect structural global change to organizational exposure and decision-making.
DAY
02
MODULE

Geopolitical Analysis with COMPASS

FOCUS
Assess actors and environments across seven strategic bearings and move systematically from information to implications.
DAY
03
MODULE

Actors, Relationships, and Strategic Choice

FOCUS
Map interests and power, evaluate dependencies and leverage, and compare strategic options.
DAY
04
MODULE

Implementation, Conflict, and Scenarios

FOCUS
Translate strategic intent into action, analyze conflict dynamics, develop scenarios, and identify warning indicators.
DAY
05
MODULE

Integrated
Capstone

FOCUS
Apply the complete IAG methodology to a consequential challenge and present a concise, decision-oriented strategic assessment.

Credential and Participant Resources

IAG Executive Certificate in Geopolitical Analysis and Strategy

Awarded to participants who satisfy the attendance, participation, and capstone requirements.

PARTICIPANT RESOURCES INCLUDE:

  • Program handbook and presentation materials.
  • Selected readings, cases, and reference resources.
  • Digital certificate documentation upon successful completion
  • Analytical templates and worksheets for COMPASS, IPM, 5X5, GSM, and GSIF
  • Faculty feedback on the capstone strategic assessment.

Who Should Attend

The program is designed for experienced professionals whose work is shaped by international developments or who contribute to geopolitical analysis, risk assessment, strategy, policy, or executive decision support.

Business and finance
Executives, strategists, investors, market analysts, supply-chain leaders, public-affairs teams, and risk professionals.
Government and security
Diplomats, public officials, policy advisers, defense professionals, intelligence analysts, and public-sector leaders.
Advisory and international affairs
Consultants, lawyers, journalists, researchers, international-organization professionals, and civil-society leaders.
Executive and professional education
University partners and experienced professionals seeking an intensive, applied program in geopolitical analysis and strategy.

ORGANIZATIONAL COHORTS

The participant mix can be configured around the organization's mission, sector, decision responsibilities, and desired organizational outcomes.

Choose the Right Delivery Method

Select the format that best fits your participants, location, organizational priorities, and partnership goals.

Attend an Open-Enrollment Program
Enroll in a five-day, in-person program offered periodically in selected U.S. and international cities.
INDIVIDUAL ENROLLMENT
Bring the Program to Your Organization
Arrange a private program for your organization, with cases and exercises tailored to your sector, region, organizational context, and strategic priorities.
PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONAL COHORT
Partner with IAG
Host or co-develop the program through a university, professional school, association, or other institution.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP
Connect distributed teams
Use a live virtual or hybrid format when participants cannot convene in one location.
LIVE VIRTUAL OR HYBRID
FACULTY LEAD
Steven A. Smith, PhD
Co-Founder and Executive Director, IAG

Steven A. Smith, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Executive Director of IAG, developed the COMPASS Framework, the Geopolitical Strategy Matrix, the Geopolitical Strategy Implementation Framework, and IAG’s complementary analytical tools. He is the author of Mastering Geopolitical Strategy: A Comprehensive Framework for Navigating the Global Landscape, published by Kendall Hunt Publishing, and brings experience across academia, industry, consulting, and geopolitical strategy.

Additional IAG faculty and subject-matter specialists may participate based on the program’s sector, geography, and learning objectives.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from IAG's Certificate in Applied Geopolitics?

The Certificate in Applied Geopolitics requires five courses and supports broader, extended study. The Executive Certificate in Geopolitical Analysis and Strategy is a stand-alone five-day live program with its own curriculum and completion requirements.

Is prior geopolitical training required?

No formal prerequisite is required. The program is designed for professionals from varied sectors. Pre-program readings may be assigned so participants begin with a common foundation.

How is the program assessed?

Assessment is based on attendance, active participation in applied exercises and case discussions, and successful completion of the team capstone strategic assessment.

Can the program be customized?

Yes. Private programs can incorporate sector-specific, regional, or organization-specific cases and exercises while retaining the core IAG methodology and learning outcomes.

Where will open-enrollment programs be offered?

IAG plans to offer the Executive Certificate periodically in selected U.S. and international cities, including programs hosted at select universities and other professional venues. Confirmed dates and locations will be announced as they become available.

Is virtual delivery available?

The preferred format for open-enrollment programs is in person. Live virtual and hybrid formats are available for private organizational and institutional programs when they better serve participant needs.