The goal of the centre is to produce excellent historically-informed research on questions related to the conduct and decision-making of international practitioners as they attempt to navigate an increasingly complex and changing international order. Ultimately, the ambition is to contribute to society by drawing on past historical experience to inform current policy-making in the international sphere. To that end, the centre organises its research around four programmes which reflect the particular strengths of the research community at Roskilde University:

1. The Legal Foundations of International Order Programme;
2. The Alfred Vagts Programme on Defence, Diplomacy and International Order;
3. The Programme on Past, Present and Alternative International Orders;
4. Between Statecraft and Global Governance: The Programme on International Bureaucrats and Order Making.