Diplo Blog

An interview with Prof. Jonathan Shepard

The UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) was declared ‘dead’ after it didn’t produce a consensus report in 2017. The last, much-lauded and often invoked report was adopted by the GGE in 2015. Yet in December 2019, 4 years after the GGE’s last success, the General Assembly (GA) decided to extend the process and establish another GGE (2019-2021).

If the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus will force down an EU civil airliner in order to seize and imprison an opposition journalist, it seems to me that we are entitled to ask: To what lengths will this and any regime of a similar nature also go in using their embassies to pursue their opponents in the diaspora – to engage in what is now known as ‘transnational repression’?

COVID-19 has posed tremendous challenges to diplomacy. Practices have had to be adapted, while diplomats have had to address the immediate crisis situation and work towards coordinated responses. In WebDebate #47 (4 May 2021), we took a closer look at  the COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) Facility and the debates and resolution of the Human Rights Council (HRC) that took place during its 46th session. COVAX is a global initiative that aims at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

In the twilight of a presidency characterised by 30,573 lies and constant misinformation, most social media platforms have permanently suspended Donald Trump’s accounts – a move also known as ‘the Great Deplatforming’. In doing so, platforms have taken away the megaphone Donald Trump had been using relentlessly and without accountability for years.

The way in which the humanitarian aid sector operates has been challenged for some time. It is increasingly acknowledged that UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), often along with other actors such as the international bodies of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and donor governments of wealthier states, hold much of the programme design and financial power at the international level.¹

I’ll admit to a prejudice. I dislike Richard Dawkins, the emeritus professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford. Holding such a pompous title is enough to warrant a demerit. Dawkins is broadly known for two insights. Both have aged poorly. The 'selfish gene' conjecture no longer enjoys much credit: such is life in science. Geneticists have proven it to be simplistic and flawed. In itself, unproblematic. In its heyday, however, it undergirded a libertarian view of human selfishness.

When the pandemic was declared last year, and lockdown measures were put in place, stress and anxiety levels were not the only things to spike. By April 2020, TikTok generated a staggering 2 billion downloads across the globe, just 5 months after having surpassed 1.5 billion downloads, making it the most downloaded app in the first quarter of 2020, or in any quarter until then.

Foreign policies have for many years served as countries’ compass in their relations with each other. With the fast digitalisation of most sectors of society, updating foreign policies to incorporate digital aspects – recognised both as a tool to facilitate diplomatic practice, and a theme on diplomatic agendas – is a natural progression.