DiploNews – Issue 239 – 1 November 2013

Looking ahead to 2014 – study opportunities

Now is the right time to plan ahead for 2014. We've opened applications for our first set of online courses next year, starting the week of 17 February:

• Diplomatic Theory and Practice
• Language and Diplomacy
• Public Diplomacy
• Introduction to Internet Governance

Apply by 16 December 2013 for University of Malta accredited courses and by 13 January 2014 for Diplo Certificate Courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses above, or visit our courses website. These courses are always popular, so register now to reserve your place.

We have also opened applications for the next session of the Humanitarian Diplomacy online diploma course, offered by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and DiploFoundation. The course willl start the week of 17 February 2014. This 12-week course, led by Ambassador Christopher Lamb, will extend the knowledge base and develop practical skills of current and future practitioners in humanitarian diplomacy and policy. The application deadline is 6 January 2014. For more details and to apply, please visit the course webpage.

Sign up for our courses mailing list to be informed about upcoming courses.

Capacity development programme launches in the Pacific

Visiting the Pacific region last week, Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Burkhalter officially launched Diplo's CD Pacific project – The Capacity Development Programme in Multilateral Diplomacy for Pacific Island States. The programme combines the convenience of tutored online learning and research for geographically dispersed participants with the immediate benefits of face-to-face coaching and policy immersion in Geneva. Read the press release from the event and view the photos.

The Contemporary Embassy

Former US Ambassador Howard B. Schaffer says it's 'by far the best and most comprehensive study now available of the way nations practice diplomacy abroad'. G.R. Berridge, Emeritus Professor of International Politics at the University of Leicester, says it's a particularly valuable book that is 'lively, shrewd, bursting with reforming ideas, and refreshingly informed by a vast knowledge of current diplomatic practice in Asia and Africa as well as in the West'. Both gentlemen are talking about The Contemproary Embassy: Paths to Diplomatic Excellence, the latest book from the pen of Amb. Kishan Rana.

Tradition and change are both marks of today's embassy, a place where multiple state and non-state actors are accomodated as they vie for position on an increasingly international stage. Faced with growing expectations and depleting resources, embassies have little choice but to do more with less. Amb. Rana explores why 'embassies today are especially relevant to the international system, examining the new representation options and global diplomacy techniques in an information age.' 

Kishan S. Rana is Professor Emeritus at the DiploFoundation, Malta and Geneva. He previously worked for the Indian Foreign Service (1960-1995), serving as Ambassador or High Commissioner to Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Germany.

Internet governance in an abbreviated format

Anyone new to the field of Internet governance may well suffer from an overdose of initialisms and acronyms. From ACTA to XML, newcomers and veterans alike may often be confused. While we might know, in theory, what the abbreviated forms represent, do we know what those individual letters actually stand for? And can we keep this much information in our heads? Is WSIS the World Summit on the Information Society or of the Information Society? Does the A in ICANN stand for association or agency? Why TRIPS and not TRIPR? This IG glossary compiled by DiploFoundation contains explanations of over 130 acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations used in IG parlance. In addition to the complete term, most entries include a concise explanation and a link for further information. In fact, it has everything you need to spoon through this particular alphabet soup. Recently lauched at the IGF in Bali, hard copies of the glossary are available at cost, in the form of a small booklet, for distribution at conferences and events. For more information, please contact: MinaM@diplomacy.edu or check it out online.

What's new in Diplo's blogosphere?

On our e-tools channel, Mary Murphy takes a look at Policing with social media in the aftermath of last week’s 120th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference and Law Enforcement Education and Technology Exhibition from whence it was reported that police authorities may soon have control over what’s posted on social media sites. A digest of our advanced diplomatic webinar: 'Big data and cyberdiplomats: 'Big opportunities or big problems?' held on 10 October 2013 by Mr Francesco Vitali is also available for your reading/listening pleasure. And in Part II of a blog post, Jovan Kurbalija draws Ten parallels between the telegraph and the Internet in international politics

Remember, you too can have your say by commenting on these or any of our blog posts. And, if you’d like to be a guest blogger, let us know.

Diplo at the 8th Internet Governance Forum

The 8th Internet Governance Forum took place in Bali, Indonesia, last week. The meeting convened hundreds of stakeholders from around the world. DiploFoundation took an active part with a full programme of workshops and other events. The programme contains links to streamed recordings.

Diplo director Dr Jovan Kurbalija addressed the Opening Ceremony of the meeting, in which he analysed evolving IG trends. Read more about his intervention in IG entering the ‘premier league’ of global governance. In a separate post, Dr Kurbalija explains that it is diplomacy, regardless of how technical a topic is.

Every day throughout the meeting, Diplo’s team on the ground navigated the IGF waters and reported back to shore. Read the daily digests: Day 0, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4. Digests by Stephanie Borg Psaila were also shared on Diplo’s IG community portal.

Last week, our October IG webinar focused on the main developments, outcomes, and general atmosphere of IGF 2013. Dr Jovan Kurbalija explored the three top issues, and what we can expect in the next period. The digest and webinar recording are available here.