DiploNews – Issue 46 – 9 August 2002
2003 Online Course on IT and Diplomacy
DiploProjects will be accepting applications for the 2003 Online Postgraduate Diploma Course in Information Technology and Diplomacy from September 1 until November 30, 2002. This year-long course will begin in February 2003 with a 10-day introductory workshop in Malta. The course this year will focus on preparing participants for international IT and telecommunications summits and conferences such as the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS – Geneva, December 2003). All course information and application instructions and forms are available on the course website.
If you have any questions please contact Sylvana Bugeja at s.bugeja@diplomacy.edu.
Conference on Web-Management for International Organisations
DiploProjects is hosting an international conference on web-management for international organisations in Geneva from October 30 to November 1, 2002. International organisations depend on efficient communications infrastructures in order to collect and disseminate information, and in this context websites are of strategic importance. The value of a website lies in both the quality of information it carries and the ease with which this information can be securely posted and retrieved. The management of information is of critical importance in maintaining a website and key members within an organisation must be integrated into the process. It is the communication between three different professional cultures: the content specialists, the designers and the IT specialists that is the crux of successful web-management.
For more information, or to register for the conference, please consult WMIO website.
For more information on DiploMethodology (the conceptual basis of the conference) please access our Flash presentation or the static presentation.
Telephone Diplomacy Defuses Spanish-Moroccan Crisis over Perejil
A recent crisis over the tiny island of Perejil (called Leila by Morocco) located 200 meters off the Moroccan coast was successfully defused through intense telephone negotiations brokered by Washington. On July 11, 2002, Morocco sent troops to occupy the uninhabited island, the ownership of which was a matter of dispute prior to the crisis. In response, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Anzar dispatched a detachment unit which eventually retook the island. The mediation efforts led by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who made at least 14 telephone calls to Spanish and Moroccan leaders on July 19 and 20, succeeded in restoring the pre-crisis situation. No direct contacts between the conflicting parties were initiated during the time of crisis resolution. The US has a strong interest in preventing conflict between these two countries which are both allies in its war against terrorism. However, according to media sources, this crisis is symptomatic of the many tensions existing between Spain and Morocco over a number of issues including oil exploration, fishing rights, immigration and the future of Western Sahara. Although Moroccan troops were forced to withdraw, Morocco was successful in its attempt to focus international attention on these issues.
Read more at the BBC website, World Tribune and Time Europe.
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