The new blog The Diplomacist launches today by The Cornell International Affairs Review to bridge the discourse of foreign affairs with the life of the university student. Students from Cornell and nine other participating universities from across the country will blog.

"We aim to frame the discussion of a wide array of international issues in a way that makes them particularly relevant and interesting to the undergraduate, usually bereft of opportunities to digest world news in a nonacademic milieu," says Jacob Baker '14, editor of the blog.

The blog will publish short, opinionated articles about a wide array of issues, he added.

As part of the launch, government professor Ronald Herring; Professor Emerita Judith Reppy, a weapons expert; and Rodrigo Zapata '13, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will participate in a round-table discussion on current events in Afghanistan Jan. 31 at 4:30 p.m. in Cornell's A.D. White House.