Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, where he directs the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. Diamond also serves as the Peter E. Haas Faculty Co-Director of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Democracy and also serves as Senior Consultant at the International Forum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy. During 2002-3, he served as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development. He has also advised and lectured to the World Bank, the United Nations, the State Department, and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies. His 2005 book, Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq, was one of the first books to critically analyze America's postwar engagement in Iraq.

His latest book, The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World (Times Books, 2008), explores the sources of global democratic progress and stress and the prospects for future democratic expansion.

At Stanford University, Diamond is also professor by courtesy of political science and sociology. In May 2007, he was named "Teacher of the Year" by the Associated Students of Stanford University for teaching that "transcends political and ideological barriers." At the June 2007 Commencement ceremony, Diamond was honored by Stanford University with the Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Contributions to Undergraduate Education. In January 2014 he received the Richard W. Lyman Award for service to the Stanford Alumni Association.

Diamond’s current research is also examining the political transition in Burma, where he has visited three times and lectured extensively.

He has participated in several working groups on the Middle East. With Abbas Milani, he coordinates the Hoover Institution Project on Democracy in Iran.

Diamond is now completing a new book of essays, In Search of Democracy. He has written, edited or co-edited over 40 books on democracy.