Mark Dietzen

Mark Dietzen joined the International Republican Institute (IRI) in 2019 as Resident Program Director, Belarus, based in Vilnius. He has over 15 years of experience in foreign policy, democratic development, and civic engagement.

Since serving in the US Peace Corps in Armenia from 2006-2008, Mr. Dietzen has worked in a variety of capacities in support of human rights and democracy. Following the Peace Corps, he assisted the Political-Economic Section of US Embassy Yerevan as a member of its official observation mission during the 2009 Yerevan Mayoral Election, the first mayoral election in Armenia’s capital in 15 years. Mr. Dietzen returned to Armenia from 2012-2014, where, as a regional expert, he gave interviews and published on a range of topics including development and conflict resolution. Mr. Dietzen went on to serve as State Foreign Policy Director and Outreach Coordinator for US Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), overseeing an expansive portfolio including foreign affairs, law enforcement, anti-human trafficking, and education. He has since held positions with the American Political Science Association and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Mr. Dietzen earned a BA in History from Wabash College in 2005, completed his MA in International Relations from Yale University in 2010, and was a 2010-2011 graduate fellow at Freie Universität Berlin.