Diplomatic Training - (Key Studies in Diplomacy) by Ruth Craggs & Jonathan Harris & Fiona McConnell (Hardcover)

About the Book

Examining the histories, development and contemporary practices of diplomatic training, this edited collection places training centrally within our understanding of international relations. It offers a globe-spanning, interdisciplinary account of the politics of diplomatic training and appeals to both scholarly and practitioner audiences.

Book Synopsis

Despite the essential role diplomatic training plays in the everyday workings of international relations, international law and in the various multilateral organisations, this practice has received little critical attention in the humanities, social and political sciences. Bringing together detailed accounts of the histories, development and contemporary practices of diplomatic training with insights from key practitioners, this edited collection places training centrally within our understanding of international relations. It argues that diplomatic training both reflects and reproduces hegemonic power relations, whilst at the same time offering opportunities to contest them, and imagine alternative futures. The book includes a substantive introduction, nine full-length chapters from a range of disciplinary and regional perspectives drawing on archival research, oral history, interviews, and ethnographic methods, and four 'interventions' reflection pieces from trainers and directors of training programmes. It offers a globe-spanning, interdisciplinary account of the politics of diplomatic training and appeals to both scholarly and practitioner audiences.

From the Back Cover

This collection provides the first book-length critical engagement with diplomatic training. Despite the essential role diplomatic training plays in the everyday workings of international relations, international law and in the various multilateral organisations, this practice has received little critical attention in the humanities, social and political sciences. Bringing together detailed accounts of the histories, development and contemporary practices of diplomatic training with insights from key practitioners, this edited collection places training centrally within our understanding of international relations.

Across the chapters, the book demonstrates that diplomatic training both reflects and reproduces hegemonic power relations, whilst at the same time offering opportunities to contest them and imagine alternative futures. Bringing together insights from practitioners of diplomatic training alongside chapters exploring the practice from a range of disciplinary perspectives, the book provides an essential insight into the history, geography and politics of diplomatic training as it expanded throughout the twentieth century and as it is conducted today. Through these diverse insights, the book asks us to recognise the central role of diplomatic training in making and remaking the profession and practice of diplomacy, and with it, international society as a whole.

The book will be of interest to interdisciplinary scholars of diplomacy, diplomatic training practitioners, and academics in the field of history, politics, International Relations and geography.

About the Author

Dr Jonathan Harris is Assistant Professor in Political Geography at Dublin City University.

Dr Ruth Craggs is Reader in Political and Historical Geography at King's College London

Professor Fiona McConnell is Professor of Political Geography at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at St Catherine's College.