On 13 November, the Executive Education department of the Geneva Graduate Insitute organised the public event “The New Diplomat: From Post-Colonial Training to Tech Ambassador” in collaboration with Dr Jérôme Duberry, Dr Ruth Craggs, Dr Jonathan Harris and Yannick Heiniger. This fascinating discussion highlighted the importance of diplomats’ training from the 1960-70’s until today and how the role of the diplomat evolved to adapt to new geopolitical and technological contexts.

Post-colonial training for African diplomats in the 1960-70s, delivered by external global north providers, represented an important site for the (re-)enactment and embodiment of Western, liberal norms in diplomatic practice. More recently, diplomacy and warfare have extended to the digital realm, leading large tech companies from Silicon Valley to play a prominent role in the geopolitical power play. The establishment of tech and cyber ambassadors-at-large positions in various countries reflects their influence.

During this session, our experts explored the evolution of the training for diplomats and what it means to be a diplomat today. They also tackle the main challenges diplomats face with the emergence of AI and, more broadly, tech diplomacy: even if tech diplomacy is maturing, most diplomats still need to be equipped to apprehend the technicity of some discussions with big tech companies in the private sector. They also mentioned the lack of diversity in the international collaboration about AI; no African voices and only a few Asian countries, and how to close this gap through training programmes.

“We can witness flavours of multilateralism; it is not just about nation-states engaging with the global technology firms, but it is also international organisations such as the ICRC or the ITU.”

Yannick Heiniger

Please find below the session recording to review the insightful speeches from our speakers at your convenience.

To go further

• Diplomatic Training Data Visualiser – Tool
• The Training Diplomats of Postcolonial African States – Project website
• AI Diplomacy: what vision for the future of multilateralism? – Article
• Tech Diplomacy: Unlocking Solutions to Global Challenges in a Tech-Driven World – Article
• Tech Hub – Geneva Graduate Institute – Research Centre
• Executive Programme in Diplomacy, Negotiation and Policy – Executive Education Diploma
• Artificial Intelligence: A Strategic Asset for Diplomacy and Organisations – Executive Education two-day course (7-8 December 2023)

Speakers

• Dr Ruth Craggs, Reader in Political and Historical Geography, King’s College of London
• Dr Jonathan Harris, Research Associate in Postcolonial Diplomacy, Geography, King’s College of London
• Yannick Heiniger, Member of the Tech Diplomacy Network, former Tech Diplomacy Adviser at the Consulate of Switzerland in San Francisco and former Deputy of Swissnex in San Francisco
• Dr Jérôme Duberry, Managing Director of the Tech Hub – Academic Advisor of the Executive Programme “Diplomacy, Negotiation and Policy” and Senior Researcher, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy