4.0

credits

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This course, “Diplomacy on the Fly,” is intended for future practitioners from a practitioner’s perspective. It proposes a practice-oriented approach to statecraft and diplomacy — their real-life characteristics, complexities, and contradictions, and the mindset and capabilities necessary to engage them. It intends to prepare students to see reality and international events in all their shades — their politics, unpredictability, and often chaotic nature — and to challenge conventional thinking with talent and imagination as the only way to create and build new and long-lasting avenues and make them work. Foreign policy is not just about policy; it is, fundamentally, about politics. And diplomacy is not a science nor simply a technique, but a deeply human endeavor that demands wisdom, vision, experience, knowledge, and, certainly, a significant amount of skill. Persuading and negotiating are two of the most critical sine qua non capabilities required. While there are useful techniques, persuasion and negotiation are, in the end, a craft. They are developed over time, with talent, practice, and thorough preparation. The course will devote a significant amount of time and work to steer students into gradually developing these crafts.