Connected objects: Is there need for greater scrutiny?
Diplo Wisdom Circle Internet of things Blogs
What are connected objects? Consider home assistants, smart thermostats, fitness wearables and connected cars to name but a few which advocate the advantages of convenience, home efficiency, health monitoring, safety, and security. Collectively…
Language during COVID-19: UK case study
Diplo Wisdom Circle COVID-19 and Diplomacy, Diplomatic theory and practice, Language and diplomacy, Rhetoric Blogs
We all know that language changes over time, but we rarely have the chance to watch it mutate in real time, and few of us could have imagined that it would change as fast as it has in the last few weeks. From the coinage of new words ('social…
Two kinds of conversation: Dialectic and dialogic
Diplo Wisdom Circle Diplomatic theory and practice, Negotiations Blogs
Ancient Greece developed a unique way of settling disagreements among cities: hoplites met in a plain, fought for a day and abided by the outcome. ‘For those men, the purpose was now to settle the entire business, if not fairly, then…
Who is selling data about researchers and why?
Alumni, Diplo Wisdom Circle
In the digital age, major academic publishers have been shifting business models from traditional publishing to data analytics and brokering. In spite of this, their customers – researchers – have not been sufficiently informed or don’t…
Science diplomacy in practice: Interview with Amb. Bhaskar Balakrishnan
Diplo Wisdom Circle Science diplomacy
What does science diplomacy look like in practice? In particular, how do diplomats from the Global South engage in the practice of science diplomacy? What are the avenues in which science diplomacy contributes to both national foreign policy…
Intercultural communication and logical fallacies
Diplo Wisdom Circle Contemporary diplomacy, Cultural diversity, Diplomatic theory and practice, Intercultural communication, Language and diplomacy Blogs
This blog is the first in a series in which I explore intercultural communication through the lens of logical fallacies, linking each fallacy to a current trend or event.
I have chosen fallacies in the first instance because, as their name…
Wreckers are as important as builders
Diplo Wisdom Circle Blogs
I was reading Eric Hobsbawn’s excellent eulogy on Tony Judt this rainy morning. One sentence struck me. Speaking of the end of the Communist system, this Marxist historian stated:
The real heroes of the period [i.e. the end of communism]…
Diplomacy as poetry
Diplo Wisdom Circle Ambiguity, Diplomatic theory and practice, Language and diplomacy Blogs
Can poetry help diplomacy? A joke, surely! Poetry and diplomacy are worlds apart and have nothing in common other than using language as a medium. Diplomacy is devoid of poetry unless, that is, we count the alliteration in President Trump’s…
A brief history of Yoga diplomacy
Diplo Wisdom Circle Contemporary diplomacy, Cultural diplomacy, Cultural diversity, Health diplomacy, Intercultural communication, Nation branding, Public diplomacy, Sports diplomacy Blogs
Yoga, said Narendra Modi at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2014, is not just exercise. 'By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can also help us deal with climate change.' He then urged the nations…
After Merkel
Diplo Wisdom Circle, Faculty Contemporary diplomacy Blogs
When Paul McCartney was coining the lyrics for 'Those Were the Days', performed magnificently and with a touching romantic crescendo by Mary Hopkin, a young, bright, and promising student in Templin was dreaming of making breakthroughs in…
Why should diplomatic academies shift to online learning?
Diplo Wisdom Circle, Faculty Capacity development, Online education Blogs
A major outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe has been a surge in online distance learning. As they say, necessity is a great mother of both innovation and change. With schools, universities, and other educational institutions…
The US approach to offline and online threats and attacks on critical infrastructure by non-state actors
Alumni, Diplo Wisdom Circle Critical infrastructure, Cyberconflict and warfare, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity Blogs
The US government has increasingly identified critical infrastructure as a particularly attractive target for criminal and terrorist groups that seek to injure the state’s interests and capabilities. But what is critical infrastructure?
In…
