Country & Organization Leader Travel

The Country and Organization Leader Travel Dataset records foreign travel by heads of government and state, selected intergovernmental organization leaders, and selected ministers. It is part of the Pardee Institute's Diplometrics program, which builds datasets to measure international relationships that are often discussed qualitatively but are difficult to compare systematically. This dataset helps researchers and analysts study patterns of diplomatic attention, foreign policy priorities, and geopolitical relationships over time.

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Dataset at a glance

Measures

International travel by heads of government and state, selected organization leaders, and selected ministers

Unit of Analysis

Leader-trip

Geographic coverage

More than 200 countries and IGOs

Time coverage

1990–present

Ministerial coverage

U.S., Russia, and China from 1990–present; Group of 20 foreign, defense, and finance minister-equivalents from 2018–present

Access

Public

Related publication(s)

International Studies Quarterly, Volume 69, Issue 2, June 2025, sqaf013

Parent program

Diplometrics

What the dataset measures

The COLT dataset records foreign travel by heads of government and state and selected international organization leaders. It also includes ministerial travel for selected countries and Group of 20 members. Each record captures a travel event and supporting information that helps users evaluate the nature and possible purpose of the visit.

How this data can be used

High-level travel is one way governments and organizations signal attention, maintain relationships, and pursue foreign policy priorities. COLT gives users a structured way to compare these visits across countries, leaders, organizations, and time.

How the data are built

COLT is built from a broad set of source materials, including public records of travel, government and intergovernmental organization websites, content aggregation databases, official social media accounts, and other public sources. The dataset includes travel records as well as related leader biographical and education information. Users should consult the codebook for variable definitions, coding rules, and limitations.

Access and citation

Citation guidance and downloadable citations are available on the Harvard Dataverse page that hosts this dataset.

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