Posts tagged as:

public diplomacy

Canadian Public Diplomacy – Where to?

January 2, 2012

In the previous post, I tried to show that during the 1980s and ‘90s the paradigm for the delivery of Canadian international policy shifted fundamentally. Over the course of those years, there was a deliberate move away from an emphasis on traditional, state-to-state interaction in the direction of public diplomacy (PD). This form of international [...]

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Canadian Public Diplomacy, Then and Now

December 14, 2011

I have recently been reviewing a new book entitled Diplomacy in the Digital Age, which is a collection of essays prepared in honour of Allan Gotlieb, a former Undersecretary of State  for External Affairs and Canada’s ambassador in Washington from 1981-89. It is an absorbing anthology, and contains valuable entries penned in some instances by [...]

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Science Diplomacy: New Day or False Dawn?

June 15, 2011

A few weeks ago in Oslo, Norway, in the company of about 40 other invitees from around the world, I attended an OECD “experts” meeting, sponsored by the Norwegian and German Ministries of Education and Research, on the subject of Science, Technology, Innovation and Global Challenges.
The workshop was predicated upon the shared realization that if  [...]

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Diplomacy on the Rebound at the Brain Food Buffet

March 21, 2011

From Tuesday through Saturday last week I attended the 52nd annual conference of the International Studies Association (ISA) in Montreal. The theme for this year’s event was Global Governance: Political Authority in Transition.
What does that mean? I still can’t say. But I can attest that this meeting represents one of the very rare occasions during [...]

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Cairo Burning: Implications for the Defence vs. Diplomacy Debate

February 4, 2011

The following commentary, based in part on my “Ferment in North Africa” entry, was posted by the University of Southern California’s Public Diplomacy Blog 02 February:
This is one of those rare, defining moments in world history. In Egypt – as well as Tunisia, Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere – change is unfolding at [...]

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A Role for Science Diplomacy? Soft Power and Global Challenges – Part I

November 15, 2010

Readers of Guerrilla Diplomacy will know that in that volume I argue that if development is the new security in the age of globalization, then diplomacy must displace defence at the centre of international policy.
Were policy-makers to accept this formulation, then diplomacy, and in particular public diplomacy (PD), would be placed front and centre in [...]

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Guerrilla Diplomacy Revisited

July 20, 2010

It has now been a year since the release of Guerrilla Diplomacy. I have spent much of this time trying to promote the book’s main arguments in support of restoring the diplomatic ecosystem and de-militarizing international policy. Following are a few reflections on those efforts.

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Political Officers in Conflict Zones: Public Diplomacy and Counterinsurgency – Part III

May 25, 2010

The past few posts have focused on the potential role of diplomacy in addressing the complex challenges of counterinsurgency.
Can non-violent approaches to conflict resolution make a difference?
Yes, but it is unlikely that contribution cannot be fully realized under present circumstances.
It is not just that the diplomatic business model has not responded adequately to the challenges [...]

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Political Officers in Conflict Zones: Public Diplomacy and Counterinsurgency – Part II

May 11, 2010

Development is a strategic and moral imperative…  our intention is to elevate development so that it stands alongside defense and diplomacy and an equal. Defense, development and diplomacy need to reinforce each other, but each also brings a unique perspective and set of capabilities to the table. Together, they make us stronger, smarter and more [...]

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Science, Technology and International Policy – Part I

August 4, 2009

Underdevelopment and insecurity, much like globalization itself, are intimately connected to science and technology (S&T). A capacity to absorb and use  S&T can confer significant competitive advantage upon individuals, groups, cities, countries and regions , while the absence of that capacity can be costly. Together, science and technology present both a very complex challenge to, [...]

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Diplomatic Surge? Part II – The things we carry

February 22, 2009

I would attribute the running down of diplomacy in recent years to a trio of developments related to the carry-over from the Cold War of certain habits of mind, or intellectual baggage, which have been hoisted into the globalization age from the preceding era. In a nutshell, in the face of the complex threats and [...]

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Diplomatic Surge? Part I – From buzz to becoming

February 13, 2009

These should be heady days for diplomats. After a long stretch languishing in relative obscurity, the willingness to explore diplomatic alternatives to the use of armed force in the pursuit of international policy objectives has become suddenly, well, fashionable.
The arrival of the Obama administration, and especially Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President [...]

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