DiploNews – Issue 166 – 3 September 2010

Diplo at the 2010 Internet Governance Forum

Diplo is planning an intensive programme in the days leading up to the fifth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting, to be held from 14-17 September 2010 in Vilnius, Lithuania. One activity open to the public is the online discussion of several papers on topics of high current relevance in Internet governance:

On 13 September, we will conduct a training session in Vilnius on Internet Diplomacy to prepare delegates from African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries to participate fully in IGF activities. In the evening, we will offer a short training session on social reporting: how to use Internet-based tools to share and spread information from a meeting in real time.

During the meeting, our social reporting efforts will focus on one of the challenges faced by participants at the IGF and others who follow the meeting: how to make sense of the various discussion threads and make the IGF experience understandable. We will also support remote participation activities, where interested individuals and groups who cannot attend the meeting in person will be able to view and participate interactively in specific IGF sessions using conferencing tools. Diplo’s team at the IGF will include delegates from all continents, including many who participated in our recent EU-ACP and European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) capacity development programmes. You can follow the preparations of Diplo's community at: https://www.diplointernetgovernance.org/ .

Upcoming Study Opportunities

2011 Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy

Earn an accredited Master’s degree while remaining on-the-job and accelerate your career with Diplo’s Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy, offered through the University of Malta. This online programme guides working diplomats and international relations professionals through the theoretical and practical building blocks of diplomacy, with a focus on contemporary issues and challenges. A 10-day residential workshop in Malta builds the skills used in diplomatic practice and extends your professional network, while a 16 to 20 months online study period provides flexibility and a unique in-depth grasp of contemporary diplomacy. The application deadline is 15 October 2010. For more information and to apply, please see the course webpage.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Past and Future

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy, in collaboration with Diplo, is pleased to offer a new online course on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Past and Future. With the resurgence of nuclear arms control diplomacy, the persistence of unresolved nuclear proliferation issues (in regard to Iran and North Korea, for example), and the worldwide revival of the nuclear power industry, the 40-year old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is central to disarmament, arms control, and international security. Familiarity with the NPT is increasingly important for practitioners and analysts in navigating their ways through current and future nuclear issues. This course will provide participants with a mix of factual information (both current and historical, substantive and procedural) and elements for debate, to familiarise them with the main purposes of the NPT, the multilateral process of its implementation and review, the main issues at stake, and, naturally, the contents of the treaty itself. Taught by Dr Christophe Carle, Visiting Scholar in Disarmament at the Geneva Centre and former Deputy Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, the course runs from 4 October to 26 November 2010. The application deadline is 10 September 2010. For more information and to apply, please visit the GCSP website.

Autumn 2010 Online Courses – Last call for applications

You are invited to apply for our course on Development Diplomacy, beginning the week of 11 October 2010. This course is available as a Diplo Certificate Course (application deadline 12 September). For further information or to apply, click on the title of the course above, or visit our courses website.

Internet Governance Workshops in the South Pacific

During the week of August 23, Diplo Fellows Vladimir Radunovic and Ginger Paque gave a training workshop on Internet Governance and Information and Communications Technology Policy in Rarotonga, Cook Islands as part of the Africa – Caribbean – Pacific (ACP) Capacity Development Project. Attended by more than thirty information technology and related ministers, regulators, government officials, and telecommunications experts, in conjunction with the International Telecommunication Union Licensing workshop, the workshop included an overview of technical, legal, socio-cultural, and other aspects of Internet governance. Discussions highlighted the importance of policy issues and the effects of communications technology on national and regional policies. Cultural and other activities during the workshop included meetings with the Prime Minister and traditional Cook Islands music, dancing, and food. The next workshops will be held in Suva, Fiji.

Books on Diplomacy in September: Environment and Civil Society

As we know that diplomats have little time to fit reading and study into their schedules, we hope that a monthly review of new publications may assist in choosing some of the most relevant. This time, our book reviews focus on the environment, development, and civil society activities.

Nico Schrijver. Development without Destruction: The UN and Global Resource Management. Indiana University Press, 2010.

Development without Destruction is the latest in the United Nations Intellectual History Project series. The project illuminates social and economic issues related to United Nations activity and looks at significant ideas and norms that have helped to secure international peace and security. Nico Schrijver gives a broad overview of past and current United Nations management of natural resources, relating how different organisations and individuals within these organisations have helped to set norms and standards for managing the global commons. He also investigates how the United Nations has been a part in building an international structure for environmental governance and global resource management. More information and a table of contents is available from the publisher’s website.

Joshua W. Busby. Moral Movements and Foreign Policy. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Moral Movements and Foreign Policy is a study of transnational advocacy movements and the conditions of their success and failure. The primary issue the author addresses is the point at which states accept moral commitments. Selecting four areas to assess in a qualitative, interview-based study (developing country debt relief, climate change, AIDS, and the International Criminal Court), he focuses on the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and the influence of advocacy groups on their policy. The Cambridge University Press catalogue provides more information, including a table of contents and an excerpt from the book.