DiploNews – Issue LD – 22 May 2002

DiploNews – Special Issue – May 22, 2002

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Language and Diplomacy Portal

DiploProjects is pleased to announce the launch of the Language and Diplomacy Portal. The portal provides:

• an introduction to some basic issues in language and diplomacy (ambiguity, analogy, signalling, rhetoric, cross-cultural communi-cation, texts and documents, translation and interpretation);
• databases of examples and resources for language and diplomacy – databases are open to contributions from the public;
• a mailing list for discussion of issues related to language and diplomacy.

We have found that studies of diplomacy usually concentrate on the message rather than the means. However, the processes of diplomacy – communicating, negotiating, reaching and formulating agreements,
  collecting, creating, transmitting and  recording knowledge – all depend on language. Examination of language use in diplomacy can lead to a better understanding of the way diplomacy functions and why some diplomatic processes are more successful than others. We believe that through careful and critical attention to various aspects of diplomatic language we can improve our understanding of both the explicit and implicit messages world leaders and other political figures send out, and improve our own ability to communicate in the most effective and appropriate ways.

We invite you to visit the Language and Diplomacy Portal and to contribute by adding information to our databases or joining our mailing list for discussion of language and diplomacy.

Visit Language and Diplomacy website or e-mail Hannah Slavik, language and diplomacy coordinator, at hslavik@diplomacy.edu.