... possible in 1958, whereas in 2023, as things stand now (although there’s no harm in dreaming, to be sure), it appears unrealistic. Who knows, maybe the ghosts of science diplomats of the postwar era would suggest a way to remedy the situation?
Science diplomacy is about people
The final stage of negotiating the Lacy-Zarubin agreement commenced on October 28, 1957 and took three months. On the U.S. side, the senior official was William Sterling Lacy, East-West Exchange Advisor to U.S. Secretary of State ...
... transformation stage some 10 years ago, anticipating global changes in the overall international system. As a global leader in the number of conflicts and potential crises, nations of the Middle East know the price of the current changes and strive to use diplomacy, mediation, and pragmatism to mitigate crises, including in the conflict in Ukraine.
Mediators
Aleksandr Aksenenok:
U.S. Policy Case for Middle East under New Conditions
On September 21–22, Russia and Ukraine exchanged the largest number ...
... do you view the current world political situation? What are the possibilities of reducing and resolving conflicts between the "West" and the "East" diplomatically? What can sovereign nations do and what tools are available? Public diplomacy, second track diplomacy…?
I practiced public diplomacy. It’s not a question of belief or faith. We must understand that there are tensions in the world, inescapable tensions. The world is divided geopolitically. Though the geopolitical situation ...
On October 7, 2022, the Italian Embassy in Moscow hosted a discussion on possible shifts in the system of world politics after the completion of the acute phase of Russia's special military operation on the territory of Ukraine
On October 7, 2022, the Italian Embassy in Moscow hosted a discussion on possible shifts in the system of world politics after the completion of the acute phase of Russia's special military operation on the territory of Ukraine. Questions of further functioning of international...
... in
VIF's Journal, National Security, Vol. 5 Issue 3
(July-September 2022).
This is a new and expanded version of the article. For an earlier version see, Kortunov, Andrey. “India-Pakistan and Russia-Ukraine: What If We Compare the Two?” Modern Diplomacy, October 30, 2021.
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2021/10/30/india-pakistan-and-russia-ukraine-what-if-we-compare-the-two/
.
... “Political Correctness” in recent years. Intellectual honesty is the foundation of our Service; Political Correctness its antithesis. “Diversity” is the latest of several rather fatuous fashions. The truth is that diversity is irrelevant to diplomacy. No foreigner I have ever met cares whether the Service has fifty per cent women, ten per cent homosexuals and five per cent ethnics. His (or her) only interest is whether a diplomat has something useful to contribute. Furthermore, “targets” ...
... crucial in promoting a positive perception of the nation. Additionally, many individuals from these diaspora have earned top leadership positions globally in various fields, boosting India’s image. In the last decade, India has also increased its public diplomacy (PD) through digital diplomacy (DD), bringing its soft power policies to action. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) maintains a public diplomacy division (PDD) that is responsible for supporting and implementing soft power aspects....
... greed assailing much of the ‘international community’ (i.e. the ‘West’), which has resulted in a lack of awareness of history. The teaching of history in western universities is indeed dying. Opinions have been replaced with
app
inions, and diplomacy with Twittering and Facebooking. Let us now deal with the salient factors, beginning with our mental underpinning, and then comment on the current ‘Ukrainian stupidity’.
Fear of Simplicity
Andrey Kortunov:
Restoration, Reformation, Revolution?...
... in a state of extreme excitement and even exaltation. But public sentiments can and should be managed
The interim results of the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul unsurprisingly produced a surge of optimism among all those in Moscow who consider diplomacy the main tool for achieving peace and solving the “Ukrainian issue”. Within the expert community, they
started exploring
the prospects for an early Putin-Zelensky meeting, trying to envisage appropriate mechanisms for multilateral security ...
... depends on Russia for supply of 41% of the EU’s gas. The EU has no alternatives to Russian gas. Germany and its industry even depends more than 50% on Russian gas. This also puts some break on “financial sanctions”.
Andrey Kortunov:
The end of diplomacy? Seven Glimpses of the New Normal
If Russia cannot get paid for gas, and enjoy the proceeds from gas sales stored by the Bank of Russia, then gas supplies to Germany—and with that German industry—can stop tomorrow. Finally, Germany has ...
