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

'With their broad and illuminating perspective, Ruth Craggs, Jonathan Harris, and Fiona McConnell draw on legal, historical, and political studies of the European experience to offer a fresh and global approach to the content, sites, and power dynamics of diplomatic training.' Laurence Badel, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

'This new book is a major contribution to the study of diplomacy and international relations. With its empirically rich chapters and far-reaching insights, the book will be of interest to a wide range of readers in the humanities and social sciences.' Deepak Nair, Australian National University

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, it places training centrally within our understanding of international relations.

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. With 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.

Review Quotes

'With their broad and illuminating perspective, Ruth Craggs, Jonathan Harris and Fiona McConnell draw on legal, historical and political studies of the European experience to offer a fresh and global approach to the content, sites and power dynamics of diplomatic training. Bringing together specialists in the field and practitioners to discuss the approaches proposed in their remarkable introduction, they take the reader from the 1960s to the 2020s, from Africa to Latin America, via Iran and the Balkans. This pioneering book, which will be very useful for anyone involved in diplomatic academies and other training institutes, is also expected to become a reference work for historians.' Laurence Badel, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

'For a profession historically associated with tact, charm, and judgements of "taste" - all regarded as redoubts of elite privilege and stubbornly untrainable - the rise of formal diplomatic training in the twentieth century, especially since decolonization, should have attracted widespread scholarly interest and attention. This hasn't been the case, and that makes this new book a major contribution to the study of diplomacy and international relations. Over 9 chapters by scholars and 7 "reflection pieces" from practitioners, this edited book uses up-close pedagogic encounters of diplomatic training across world regions to examine how training bureaucratically includes and excludes; produces and performs the "international"; and funnels hegemonic visions of the world yet also allows actors to contest these visions. With its empirically rich chapters and far-reaching insights, the book will be of interest to a wide range of readers in the humanities and social sciences.' Deepak Nair, Australian National University

About the Author

Jonathan Harris is Assistant Professor in Political Geography at Dublin City University
Ruth Craggs is Reader in Political and Historical Geography at King's College London
Fiona McConnell is Professor of Political Geography at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at St Catherine's College