The Kyiv School of Diplomatic Arts offers a new course Historical Narratives in International Politics.
Aggressive players on the international arena have always capitalized on disunity and division among bordering countries, especially if the publics of the latter may tend to disagree in the matters of collective identities, memory politics, and national histories.
Over the years, the malicious manipulative tactics in the said dimension have been consistently employed by the russian federation in its effort to destabilize the situation on the European continent. In multifold cases, the Kremlin attempted to utilize any traits of cultural (esp. interethnic) prejudices, the controversies over conflicting interpretations of historical events, and other similar discords in order to deflect the states of Eastern/Central-Eastern Europe from building a solid alliance of democratic societies.
The principal role in this geopolitical iniquity belongs to specifically targeted disinformation campaigns aimed to support legitimization-seeking (and predominantly populistic) quasi-historical discourses.
Monitoring Practicums:
The Kyiv School of Diplomatic Arts is conducting the series of practicums tasked with monitoring the Kremlin’s quasi-historical discourses and their circulation in different countries of the world.
The Kyiv School of Diplomatic Arts is happy to announce the launch of our recurring Seminar “Manners and Diplomacy”.
Our Workshop:
In the collection of his posthumously published writings, the Testament Politique, Armand Jean de Plessis de Richelieu (1585-1642), Chief minister to Louis XIII of France and a fabulous titan of European diplomacy, left to posterity an omnium-gatherum of particularly practical wisdom. Among other treasures of the said trove, there is one that ventilates a rather obvious fact – id est “different nations have different characters“. With the combination of grandeur and shrewdness, the sage cardinal pontificated that such distinctiveness was to be reckoned with at all times.
Sir Harold Nicolson (1886-1968), a topflight theorist of diplomacy’s phenomenon and an urbane virtuoso of its practice, gave the most careful thought to the matter of “the Ideal Diplomatist“.
The subject is elegantly pondered about in Chapter V of Nicolson’s famous treatise Diplomacy – the work that has been reverentially perused by the enthusiasts of the profession since the book’s first publication in 1939.
A paragon of diplomatic trade, according to this text, is to display the following qualities: truth, accuracy, calm, good temper, modesty, and loyalty. That, continues Sir Harold, needs to be buttressed by intelligence, knowledge, discernment, prudence, hospitality, charm, industry, courage, “and even tact”.
To see itself through the travails and miscommunications of today’s geopolitics, Ukraine requires its very own corps of tip-top professionals in public diplomacy.
The training of such experts is impossible without the cohort of dedicated educators well-equipped with the knowledge of the most efficient teaching approaches.
With the aforementioned argument in mind, the Kyiv School of Diplomatic Arts conducts a new instruction program for the faculty members of Ukrainian universities.
The world of diplomacy and international relations has never failed to stay a highly demanding place. Customarily, we expect its dwellers to display the brightest schooling, especially when it comes to the gargantuan multifariousness of human cultures and societies.
The conventional system of higher learning, however, is not particularly poised to produce entirely accomplished and unarguably au courant diplomatists.
In consequence, the very individuals aspiring to master the glorious diplomatic profession (in any of its contemporary manifestations) are to make their own journey towards perfection – that is to become what one of the greatest diplomats of the past, the illustrious François de Callières (1645-1717), defined as ‘the enlightened and assiduous negotiator‘.
To assist those who feel the calling for diplomacy or other occupations in international dimension, the Kyiv School of Diplomatic Arts offers a number of course clusters and tailor-made courses.
In his most celebrated work, the Guide to Diplomatic Practice, Sir Ernest Satow (1843-1929), a great authority in conceptualizing Diplomacy, gave a very elegant description of the qualities he saw as indispensable for a diplomat.
“A mind trained by the study of the best literature, and by that of history” – is a phrase in Satow’s most thoughtful check-list one cannot ignore.
The Kyiv School of Diplomatic Arts has chosen the cited formula as the main theme for a round table series we are happy to carry out alongside our other activities.
The Kyiv School of Diplomatic Arts, munificently supported by the Black Sea Trust of the German Marshall Fund (USA) and the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany), had the honour to host a splendidly insightful colloquy that confederated a group of eminent scholars and diplomatists with a very diverse international audience.
The purpose of this two-day gathering was to launch a series of further collaboration-oriented symposia on the following matters:
Eastern Europe (especially the region of the Black Sea) is a multinational, multiethnic, and multicultural area. Mutual understanding among its nations and ethnic entities is absolutely paramount for peace and stability in this part of the world.
We believe that the representatives of Ukraine’s national minorities and indigenous peoples may play a key role in the cultural bridge-building among the region’s communities. In equal measure, they can be resourceful contributors to the resolution of the ongoing conflicts and to the institutional integration of our country with the commonwealth of transatlantic democracies.
The realm of international relations is a universe of various professional opportunities. In order to comprehend this expanse and to find a right path in it, students need to start shaping their future careers from the earliest stages of university education.