21st Century Diplomacy: A Practitioner’s Guide

Paul Sharp, University of Minnesota Duluth, USA, states: ‘In 21st Century Diplomacy, Ambassador Rana has produced an invaluable guide for junior diplomats to the fast-changing and demanding world in which they will work, and he has so from the perspective of a senior and highly successful insider.’

Shyam Saran, former Foreign Secretary of India and currently chairman of the Research and Information Systems for Developing Countries, New Delhi, describes the book as a seminal contribution to scholarship on modern diplomatic theory and practice. ‘21st Century Diplomacy is a nuts and bolts manual for modern diplomacy, which will be invaluable to both scholars and practitioners in the field of international relations. There is no better person than Ambassador Rana to undertake this significant study, given his vast diplomatic experience and his keen involvement, in recent years, in building human resource capacity in the craft of diplomacy across the world.’

Ambassador Hans Winkler states that the  clichéd image of the venerable profession of diplomacy is one of stuffed shirts living in exotic, well-appointed residences and attending a whirl of cocktail parties. Yet, he says that how this is far from reality is superbly described in the book. ‘This seasoned representative of one of the best diplomatic services in the world reveals the true story of diplomats as modern managers of foreign relations, networking and negotiating with politicians, businessmen, academics or artists, and equally at home with the use of modern methods of technology. Rana’s comprehensive picture of the diplomat of the 21st century is not only scholarly and magisterial but also, with its telling use of amusing anecdotes taken from everyday life in embassies and international conference halls, highly entertaining. This excellent volume can be highly recommended to every student of contemporary diplomacy.’

Contents

1. Globalized Diplomacy
2. Regional Diplomacy
3. The Diplomacy of Small States
4. Public Diplomacy and the Country Brand
5. Diaspora Diplomacy
6. Foreign Ministries: Change and Reform
7. The Reinvented Embassy
8. The Decision Process, Crisis and Risk Management
9. Improving Performance, Delivering Value
10. Information and Communications Technology in Diplomacy
11. The New Consular Diplomacy
12. Protocol in International Affairs
13. Professional Attributes
14. The Spoken Art and Advocacy
15. Writing Skills
16. Drafting Resolutions
17. Records of Discussion
18. Representational Entertainment
19. Training Exercises
20. Concluding Observations