DiploNews – Issue 214 – 19 October 2012

Upcoming Study Opportunities

Last call for applications: 2013 Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy

You are invited to apply for the popular Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy, offered through the University of Malta, starting at the end of January 2013. This blended learning programme offers a valuable opportunity for diplomats and other international relations professionals to continue studies without leaving work. The programme consists of a 10-day residential workshop in Malta followed by 16 to 20 months of online learning.

New for 2013: Applicants may select Internet Governance as an area of specialisation within the Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy. Candidates for this area of specialisation will attend several required courses in the area of Internet governance (Introduction to Internet Governance, eDiplomacy, Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure and Critical Internet Resources) and select their remaining courses from the wide list of diplomacy topics. Candidates will write their dissertations on Internet governance-related topics. Please check our announcement of this new specialisation option for more information.

The application deadline for the Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy is 20 October 2012. For more information and to apply please see the course webpage.

Call for applications: Introduction to Internet Governance

One way to link different Internet governance issues such as technical, social, development, economic, legal, and/or security, and to fill in any gaps across professional and issue areas is to step back and take a look at the bigger picture: the overall issues. You can analyse how they affect each other, discuss the topics with colleagues who work in one area, and share your expertise in another. You can see how experts from different regions are addressing the same issues or different priorities. You can do this online, in just 8-10 hours a week, by participating in DiploFoundation’s Introduction to Internet Governance course, starting 18 February 2013.

For complete information, see the introductory blog posting.

2013 Online courses

Start your year with online learning. The following courses all start in mid-February 2013:

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  Diplomatic Theory and Practice
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  Public Diplomacy
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  Language and Diplomacy
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  Diplomatic Protocol and Etiquette

Courses start the week of 18 February 2013. Apply by 17 December 2012 for University of Malta accredited courses and by 14 January 2013 for Diplo Certificate Courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses above, or visit our courses website. Register now to reserve your place.

Register Now: International Conference on Innovation in Diplomacy

DiploFoundation’s 10th birthday is an occasion to reflect on innovation in diplomacy. Over the last ten years, we have witnessed many important developments, including the introduction of the Internet to diplomacy, the increasing specialisation of diplomacy in fields such as climate change, and the higher involvement of civil society in international relations. New forms of communication, reporting, and access to information have changed the routines of diplomats and diplomatic services. Innovations are sometimes highly visible (Internet). In many other cases, they amount to small incremental improvements.

The Conference will identify innovations that have survived the hype and have influenced substantially how modern diplomacy operates. A group of highly experienced practitioners and researchers will discuss the future innovation trends in diplomacy. They will reflect on different experiences in innovation in diplomacy including the big diplomatic systems (the United States and the European Union), emerging powers (BRICS), and small countries (Malta and Switzerland).

The conference will take place from 19-20 November 2012 in Malta. Please view the draft programme and registration information online.

Translating Climate Change

The German translation of Diplo’s Climate Change Building illustration has just been published in the magazine of the German Society for Meteorology (p. 6-7). With the illustration, Diplo contributes to making the complexities of climate change and the international negotiations on climate change easier to grasp. We are delighted to have one of the translations featured in this quarterly magazine, which publishes both online and in print.

The German translation is the result of Diplo’s Translate Climate project which aims at translating the illustration through online collaboration. The project was initiated last year at the time of the Climate conference in Durban. Translate Climate has resulted in more than 15 full translations: the languages ranging from Chinese, to Arabic and Hebrew, to Portuguese and Spanish, all the way to Kwanyama, a Namibian dialect.

If you are interested in contributing to the Translate Climate project or would like to use one of the illustrations, please contact Katharina at katharinah@diplomacy.edu 

What’s happening in Diplo’s blogosphere?

Yet another action-packed fortnight with Mary Murphy mulling over how anyone could be sent to jail for joking on Facebook and what this says about social media and current media laws. Ever wondered when cultural diplomacy is not about culture? According to Liz Galvez, it’s when it’s about science.  Jovan Kurbalija comments on how the recent announcement of Nobel Prize for the EU has triggered another round of EU bashing and questions this in his post Bits and bytes vs bombs and bullets: Why the EU’s Nobel prize is visionary. Never one to shy away from the uncomfortable, Jovan also shares his experience of a night at another type of awards ceremony in Sh*t happens … and matters a lot.  Pete Cranston was on a quite a roll as he wondered at Facebook, broken on purpose? Twitter ranks 9th for eDiplomacy; State uses Google Hangouts in Farsi to reach into Iran: links we liked.

Over on the Reading channel, we review a  Chinese economist’s view of the future of the world economy and look at some articles dealing with the ocean and climate change. Retired ambassadors used to write poetry (Claudel, St John Perse) and then memoirs: either of a negotiation they took part in (e.g. Oliver Long) or autobiographies (the classical: been there, done that). Now we can see how ambassadors fare as political analysts.

Remember, you too can have your say. Comment on these or any of our posts and even consider writing one yourself.

Discussing Internet governance

We caught up with Diplo’s Vladamir Radunovic who attended the 2nd Belgrade Security Forum at the end of September. The forum was convened to discuss the challenges to democracy and security in this time of global crisis. Vlada had some interesting things to say on cyberwar and cybercrime – responding to the governance challenge. He also commented from the CENTR meeting in Brussels where he discussed ccTLD registries in the battle over the Internet: from ‘putting to sleep’ to ‘waking up’. We caught up with Mark McDowell, Counsellor, Public Diplomacy, Embassy of Canada in Bejing in Going where the audience is: an insider’s view of Canada’s weiplomacy in China. 

Ginger Paque offers hope to all who are drowning in a sea of inialisms in her post What is a wickitee? She also comments on the recent successes at the LACIGF. Fatima Cambronero was also at the LACIGF and has a lot of experience to share of this local IGF. Mayengo Tom Kizito  wonders at our online safety and privacy and what we can we do to maintain it  while Robert Kikonyogo highlights how  major banks, telecoms companies and governments are joining forces in EU-wide cyber-attack exercise.

As we approach the IGF 2012 meeting, which is being held on 6-9 November 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the IGF Secretariat will once again be providing remote participation facilities this year. Bernard Sadaka has issued the call. And more good news as DiploFoundation announces VeriSign fellows to attend 7th IGF meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Keep abreast of what’s happening in the world of Internet governance. Remember to subscribe to our IG blog, and follow blog posts and events shared by members of Diplo’s IG community.