DiploNews – Issue 362 – 7 January 2019

Upcoming study opportunities – don’t miss the application deadlines for February 2019 courses

Capacity Development course

Capacity development has been emerging as a central approach within development for more than two decades. To help development professionals better understand and master this paradigm, this interactive online course introduces the key concepts, principles, and values of capacity development. The main focus is on building practical skills for better design, planning, implementation, and assessment of capacity development initiatives. The next session starts 18 February 2019 and the application deadline is 14 January 2019. Please visit the course webpage to read more and apply.

Humanitarian Diplomacy Diploma course

Apply now for the next session of the popular online course Humanitarian Diplomacy, offered in co-operation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). This highly interactive 13-week course, led by Ambassador Christopher Lamb and a team of experienced practitioners, extends the knowledge base and develops practical skills of current and future practitioners in humanitarian diplomacy and policy. The course familiarises participants with basic definitions, concepts, actors, and institutions in the field of humanitarian diplomacy; introduces international humanitarian law; hones advocacy and negotiation skills; develops participants’ research skills; and increases their understanding of national and regional humanitarian diplomacy activities.
 The course is offered in English; however, participants have the option of writing and submitting major course assignments and the final research paper in French or Spanish.
 The next session starts 18 February 2019 and the application deadline is 14 January 2019. Please visit the course webpage to read more and apply.

February 2019 online diplomacy courses

Start the new year with one of our most popular online courses:

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

Apply by 14 January 2019 for Diplo certificate courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses listed, or visit our courses webpage. Register now to reserve your place.

Malta scholarships

Thanks to support from the government of Malta, partial scholarships are available for applicants from developing countries to attend upcoming Diplo online courses. These scholarships cover 30%–60% of course fees and can be applied to most online courses in 2019. Browse our course catalogue and contact us at admissions@diplomacy.edu for further information. You can also sign up for our courses mailing list to be informed about upcoming courses.


[Upcoming event] Science fiction meets policy | Policy meets science fiction

Join us on 15 January in Geneva (12:30-16:00 CET) when we ask: What can sci-fi teach us about digital politics and its future? With this event, we bring two very different constituencies together: Sci-fi authors and sci-fi enthusiasts on the one side, and policymakers, diplomats, and international relations professionals dealing with digital politics on the other. What discussions emerge and what lessons can be learned at the intersection of the two? What happens when science fiction and policy meet? Sci-fi can be escapist or critical of our potential future, often in reaction to our present reality. It can provide dystopian or utopian visions of what is to come, but also, many alternative universes in between. Which of these universes becomes our reality will depend on our collective human agency, including our digital policy and its governance.

For those who cannot join us in Geneva and those that are keen on reading on the topic before the event, we have prepared a curated reading list, including some key books, short stories, and non-fiction reading on the topic.

Learn more about the programme and speakers and register.

Geneva Dialogue on Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace: looking back at the first three webinars

In December, the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) organised a webinar titled What is the role of the private sector towards a peaceful cyberspace? within the framework of the Geneva Dialogue on Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace, which is led by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), in co-operation with the GIP, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), ETH Zurich, and the University of Lausanne. This webinar was the third in the series, building on the first webinar, What is responsible behaviour in cyberspace? and the second, What is the role of civil society and communities towards a peaceful cyberspace?

What’s been happening in Diplo’s blogosphere

In At the table with the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace, Diplo’s Vladimir Radunovic analyses the Paris Call, which French President Emmanuel Macron launched in November last year as a high-level declaration laying out common principles for securing cyberspace. He highlights the complementarity of the call with existing initiatives and analyses its added values. Andrijana Gavrilovic provides a summary of our recent webinar on What is the role of the private sector towards a peaceful cyberspace? highlighting the roles and responsibilities of the private sector with regard to critical infrastructure, vulnerability reduction, and capacity development.