Governments have had to focus on multilateral cooperation and adopt new tools to deal with the new challenges of international terrorism, drugs trafficking, money laundering, global organised crime, illegal immigration, enforced migration, environmental degradation and cyber terrorism. The main functions of diplomats are representation, negotiation, promotion of friendly relations, protection of the interests of citizens living abroad, and information gathering, analysis and distribution.
Diplomats are now required to be expert in at least two regions and fluent in two languages in order to be promoted to senior ranks. Currently, record numbers of diplomats are being trained in critical languages like Chinese, Urdu, Arabic and Farsi.
It is crucial to provide a common vision of hope and prosperity while engaging foreign publics and media. In the absence of clearly defined structures and predictable operational context, Diplomats rely on their Knowledge in all its variety, as their ultimate resource.
Information is increasingly available. The main question is how to process all the information that has become available in the era of information explosion and even saturation, in order to obtain value-added elements. This is the process known as Data-Mining. It entails combining Data, corroborating information related to them, drawing the analytical conclusions and thus, creating useful knowledge.
Knowledge is the combination of information, training, experience and intuition. In Diplomacy, Knowledge takes different forms: the general knowledge gathered in education and upbringing, knowledge of Special Subjects gathered through specific Diplomatic training, knowledge gained through experience knowledge of religions, cultures, procedures…etc.
It is this knowledge that enables Diplomats to act appropriately in unpredictable situations Diplomacy these days has many new partners, but no single substitute. Political leaders and policy makers may get news of a crisis first from CNN rather than the relevant embassy cables, but diplomats are still necessary to provide the detailed political reporting from foreign lands.
Diplomacy in the 21st Century requires that the right people have the right skills in the right place at the right time. Continued training and career development programs will better prepare diplomats and advance their expertise. How can I get job in UN? What are the positions in an embassy?
What is higher than an ambassador? Is a diplomat the same as an ambassador? What language do Diplomats speak? How do diplomats learn a new language? How long does it take to become ambassador? How much do Ambassadors earn? What powers do Ambassadors have?
Do ambassadors travel a lot? Do ambassadors get Secret Service protection? The objective of a diplomat is to achieve its results, which must comply with the national interests.
Indeed, the diplomat should achieve the best negotiating outcome closest to the national requirement, at least as much as possible. A helpful strategy is to adopt clear red lines and do not compromise beyond them. Nevertheless, being a tough negotiator also implies the ability to remain calm under pressure, patient, and discreet.
This is the most important and, I must say, sometimes under-rated quality, which a good diplomat should possess. Diplomatic decisions, indeed, cannot be sorted out in no time. Since the rhythms of the diplomatic sector are frenetic, a diplomat should be able to rapidly adapt and adjust to different and changing working situations.
A diplomat should be able to plan and organise activities in order to prioritise tasks effectively and make appropriate use of time. The diplomat should also be able to write reports in a limited amount of time. Diplomats should also have considerable problem-solving capacities. This means being able to identify the best and most effective solutions to solving problems promptly. A diplomat should be able to write organised reports, which are concise, grammatically correct and effective.
Moreover, in communicating, a diplomat should be able to write appropriately and rapidly and be verbally fluent and concise. In this way, a good diplomat will be able to produce rapidly and qualitatively proses, summaries, and reports. Regarding oral communication, a diplomat should be able to speak fluently, concisely, and grammatically correct using the appropriate styles of communication.
Diplomatic communication is endowed with precise formal rules since the birth of modern diplomacy. However, it has undergone important changes together with historical and societal changes. Nowadays, diplomats use platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, which are sometimes preferred tools for their immediacy and the ability to easily reach a wide audience and to represent the barometer of the state of bilateral or multilateral relations between the various nations.
Indeed, a good diplomat should be able to effectively and harmoniously communicate with people from other cultures and with different political beliefs.
A good diplomat shall be aware of all non-verbal messages present in communication that changes in different cultures and are socially constructed. Sometimes the diplomat would have to face barriers to communication when negotiating with people from different cultures. When I left the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in , there were various mechanisms in operation to promote this, including Post Reports and Reviews.
There may be more now. The second is sound knowledge of the country in which you are posted, to be gained initially by reading and study probably books rather than briefs or articles and later from experience and observation. For example, one of the most dramatic events of my diplomatic career was the coup in Indonesia, when the Communist Party was behind the murder of leading army generals and the abortive takeover of government by a Revolutionary Council.
In Nasution, by then a general, was minister of defence, and the only one of the targets for assassination to survive. The secretary-general of the Communist Party in , D. Aidit, had been a very young member of its Central Committee in You need to be able to see why a government is doing what it is, taking the stances it is, and thinks as it does.
The next question is who reads them, and what they do with them.
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