DiploNews – Issue 136 – 16 April 2009
Upcoming Study Opportunities
Call for Applications: Climate Change Diplomacy
Climate change is becoming an important issue in global and regional negotiation processes. In the past, a few negotiators trained specifically for the Kyoto process could effectively cover climate change issues, but today officials involved in an increasing range of fields (such as energy, human rights, telecommunications, and health) need knowledge about climate change issues. This course will equip participants to represent and promote the interests of their own countries in the global climate change policy process. In addition, the course will broaden participants’ general understanding of climate change and the global policy response to climate change. Diplo will run two sessions of Climate Change Diplomacy in 2009:
Session 1: June 8 – August 14, 2009. Application deadline: May 18
Session 2: September 28 – December 4, 2009. Application deadline: September 7.
We are currently accepting applications for the June session. Full scholarship support will be provided by the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to diplomats, civil servants, and academics from small and developing states involved in climate change policy processes and negotiations. Please see the Diplo Climate Change Diplomacy website for further information and to apply.
Summer Courses with Diplo
Free time this summer? Expand your knowledge with an online course starting 27 July:
- Diplomatic Law: Privileges and Immunities
- 21st Century Diplomacy
- Multilateral Diplomacy
These courses are available as University of Malta Accredited Courses (application deadline 25 May) and as Diplo Certificate Courses (application deadline 22 June). For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses above, or visit our courses website.
Last Call for Applications: May 2009 courses
Places are still available in the following courses that begin the week of 11 May 2009:
- Diplomacy of Small States
- Multistakeholder Diplomacy
These courses are available as Diplo Certificate Courses. Apply as soon as possible.
Capacity Building Cooperation with UNODC
Building on successful cooperation in 2008, this year Diplo will again work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to offer capacity building courses focused on the universal legal regime against terrorism. In 2009, courses will be offered in both English and French. The courses aim to strengthen national capacities by assisting criminal justice officials and others involved in counter-terrorism to develop skills and knowledge to effectively utilise the channels for international legal cooperation envisaged in a series of UN treaties and resolutions adopted over the last 40 years.
Courses are offered free of charge as part of a UNODC capacity-building initiative, and priority will be given to applicants from developing countries. Applicants should be criminal justice officers, practicing diplomats, civil servants, and others who work in the legal areas of international cooperation in criminal matters, or are involved in drafting of criminal law texts. For further information on course topics, prerequisites, and application instructions, please visit the UNODC website.
While the application deadline for the English language course has already passed, you may still apply for the French language course until 20 April 2009.
Database of UN Climate Change Projects
With the recent start of the website, “Online Inventory of UN System Activities on Climate Change,” the complex system of UN activities regarding climate change has become a little more comprehensible. The website grants access to project descriptions, including background information, best practices, and results. Projects can be searched by theme, by region, by country, and by UN institution. The inventory makes it easier to get an overview of what UN institutions are doing and what projects exist in different countries or regions. The newly launched database will be an invaluable resource for those interested or engaged in climate change diplomacy and the work of the UN in this field. The database can be accessed at Online Inventory of UN System Activities on Climate Change.
Books on Diplomacy in April
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.
A. Thompson. Channels of Power: The UN Security Council and U.S. Statecraft in Iraq. Cornell University Press.
Thompson’s new book provides an overview of the policy of the US towards Iraq from the first Gulf War of 1991 to the aftermath of the war in 2003. As well, it offers insights into the workings of the Security Council and the mechanisms of coercive diplomacy. It explains how the Security Council was used in 1991, in the inter-war period, and in 2003, and the current importance of the body. Thompson is aware that powerful states do not need international organisations to achieve their goals, but he concludes that “even superpowers routinely channel coercion, including the use of force, through international organisations despite viable alternatives that offer more flexibility and control.”
A. F. Cooper and T. M. Shaw (eds.). The Diplomacies of Small States: Between Vulnerability and Resilience. Palgrave Macmillan.
This collection of essays focuses on the methods and techniques used by small states to gain greater recognition in multilateral processes. As part of globalisation, the competition between states has increased. Some small states seem to rise to the challenge while others do not do as well. The book is organised in three parts. Part one gives a general overview of the diplomacy of small states. Part two looks at case studies concerning the representation of small states in regional organisations and part three looks at small states and international organisations. States touched upon as part of the case studies include: small island developing states, Nordic states such as Iceland, smaller African states, and others.
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