Always Strive for a Better Future

Use every opportunity to build long lasting relationships and create a network of diplomats from all over the world, said  Đorđe Radulović, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro at the opening of the second day of XIV Summer School for Young Diplomats “Gavro Vuković”.

As a Summer School alumnus, he pointed out, that this project has motivated him to constantly acquire new knowledge, build long lasting relationships with his peers around the world, as well as to always strive for a better future. Therefore, “it is a special pleasure for me to be in a position to empower a new generation of diplomats to stay connected and shape the future”, said Minister Radulović, adding that “diplomats have a special responsibility when it comes to reinforcing trust and dialogue”.

We are witnessing huge changes at the global level.  Diplomacy has become multi-layered, intensive, and unpredictable due to the increased number and variety of actors taking part in it, as well as communication models and the complexity of goals, said Minster Radulović. The pandemic has changed the world scene faster than anyone expected, while exposing the flaws of political, health, and security systems but at the same time reinforcing the hope that the world will become an even stronger place. Such a context has further accentuated the need for multidisciplinary learning and new communication mechanisms.

“Today’s diplomats must be familiar with topics such as the environment, climate change, green growth, gender equality, poverty reduction, social exclusion, digital transformation, science diplomacy, in other words – a little bit of everything”, emphasized Minister Radulović.

He advised young diplomats to use the opportunity and discuss closer the issues of contemporary diplomacy with more than 50 prominent speakers of the XIV Summer School and to stay connected in order to shape the future.

Together we are stronger

Building upon the messages of the Montenegrin Foreign Minister, Mircea Geoană, Deputy Secretary General of NATO made an appeal to young diplomats to dream big and seize opportunities to change the lives of their countries for the better and to reinforce the belief that peace and security represent the basis of any successful democratic society. He pointed out that Montenegro has been a valuable member of NATO, “just as NATO can count on Montenegro, so Montenegro can count on NATO”, he said, adding that the Western Balkans region per se plays a central role in consolidating stability and security in both Europe and Euro-Atlantic area emphasizing that “in uncertain world, there is one certainty that together we are stronger”. Strong societies are the first line of defence. Thereby, the ambitious NATO 2030 Agenda remains fundamental in strengthening cohesion, cooperation and alliances in order to tackle and adapt to current and future challenges.

Are New Types of Global Cooperation Needed?

Envisaging and planning for the future so as to gain some sense of control in an increasingly unpredictable pandemic life was the underlying premise of the high-profile panel discussion hosted by Ambassador Mirsad Bibović on behalf of Montenegrin Foreign Ministry. The panel encouraged reflection on the impact of the pandemic on the exercise of human rights, public health, and economic, security and social systems at an international level, as well as viable ways to reshape the multilateral system and models of global cooperation.

The pandemic leaves many unknowns about how the world will look like and what kind of impact this transformative event will have on the future of mutually beneficial globalization and economic governance. While we are all to wait for the time to tell how the post-pandemic world will look like, all of the speakers have been unanimous in saying that COVID 19 definitely calls for reflection on fundamental lessons learnt at the global level and concrete initiatives that need to be set in motion to enhance international solidarity and cooperation. as well as the role of multilateral organizations in times of crisis.

The panellists focused on exploring concrete actions on how to enhance international cooperation and global solidarity and make multilateral system more inclusive and better prepared to respond to current challenges and future challenges.

Speaking about the approach of the People’s Republic China in the post-pandemic world, H.E. Liu Jin, Ambassador of the P.R. of China to Montenegro emphasised that it is deeply rooted on multilateralism that features cooperation, mutual trust, and equality based on universal values. H.E. Judy Rising Reinke, Ambassador of the USA to Montenegro emphasised that all countries in the world, especially the most developed ones, must continue with international cooperation. According to the Ambassador Reinke, the global response to the pandemic, primarily through the COVAX mechanism of the World Health Organisation, is probably the best example of multilateralism. The pandemic and vaccine diplomacy have put the existing international alliances and globalisation to the test, noted H.E. Vladislav Maslennikov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Montenegro. He emphasised that all actors of the international community, emphasizing need to put their political disagreements aside and unite for the sake of global health and economic revival. H.E. Christian Thimonier, Ambassador of the French Republic to Montenegro reminded the pandemic, by its nature and global scope, cannot be addressed by countries separately but must be tackled jointly for the sake of global recovery.

The key message shared by  all the panellists,  was that no country alone can cope with and fight back against the pandemic, which makes interconnectivity and solidarity indispensable components of joint action. They agreed that multilateralism is a universal value and that as such it will play a crucial role in the future of diplomacy.

Covid, Climate and Crisis: Lessons Learnt and Not Learnt?

“The most important lesson has to be that precaution is so much easier and less costly than acting only when a crisis is upon us” were the inspiring words of Professor Adil Najam, Dean of Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Director of Center for Studying Longer Range Future at Boston University. Although all of us agree that the pandemic is the first truly global crisis many of us faced, he pointed that question remains whether we have learnt lessons that it offers for the looming challenges of climate change: about multilateralism, about science and about resources.

Professor Najam stated that 2020 was, without a doubt, “a year like no other”. This is because we have probably lived through one of the most global experiences of our lifetime and because this represents only a glimpse of the “age of adaptation”. Professor Najam followed through on this idea by stating that unlike the pandemic, climate change cannot be fought against by way of closing of our doors or introducing travel restrictions and that in addition to this, and what is even worse, there is no vaccine that might enable its reversion.

Making the comparison between the timely response in pandemic management at the international level with the current response to the process of climate change, it has been noted that climate change has not received enough attention in terms of international cooperation, thus accentuating the weakness of multilateralism. On one hand, quick development of the COVID-19 vaccines is the reflection of a quickly-mobilizing and highly-skilled scientific community, and on the other of the possible promptness of the international community to find the necessary resources to end the health crisis. Unfortunately, according to Professor Najam, the latter has not been the case when it comes to climate change management. The hope remains that the cooperation, the scientific expertise and the necessary funds will not come too late when the climate will already be irreparably broken.

How to Stay in Control

Director of the Clingendael Academy Ron Ton, diplomat training specialist, lead an interactive workshop how a young diplomat can become an effective negotiator and which are the elements of a successful negotiation process. Young diplomats were introduced to the critical factors that might influence the course of negotiation, the methodology of the 7 phases-negotiation process, the PIN analysis of negotiators’ positions and the Negotiation Competence Profile Assessment.

According to Mr. Ton, negotiation is about profound understanding of constituencies’ needs, skilful management of complexities and integration of multiple perspectives into a shared point of view. He noted that “a good negotiator knows how to navigate efficiently and timely between the content, procedure, behaviour and process”, which represent a four-dimensional method applied to staying in control of the complexity of international negotiations.

In a workshop format, young diplomats were invited to “sit at the negotiating table” and agree upon the top three competencies they consider to be indispensable for a successful negotiation. Finally, building on their feedback and providing additional insights into the world of negotiation, Mr. Ton reminded them to always keep in mind their constituencies’ needs, credibility of their arguments, as well as the concerns and needs of other parties involved in the process.

Our takeaway

If we were to pick a single recap word that has marked the second day of the 14th edition of  Summer School for Young Diplomat, it would definitely be “cooperation”. Cooperation to rethink diplomacy, manage global crises and, finally, cooperation to learn new skills to manage today’s complexities and integrate multiple perspectives into a shared point of view. That is probably one of the most important lessons learnt from the experience of the pandemic, which has accentuated not only the instrumental value of standing united but also how quickly we can adapt to new challenges. Ultimately, this one, “the first truly global crisis” invites the entire global community to reflect on its weaknesses and strengths, while preparing to respond to yet another crisis, perhaps the greatest of all: climate change.

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XIV Summer School for Young Diplomats “Gavro Vuković”,  organized by the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, was held from 5 to 9 July, 2021, in online format.  It gathered 70 young diplomats from all over the world that had an opportunity to discuss issues of contemporary diplomacy with 50 prominent speakers through 20 interactive sessions over five working days. It put specific emphasis on the role and importance of diplomacy to reinforce trust and cooperation for shaping secure and prosperous future.Agenda

For this edition of the Summer School we owe particular gratitude to our long-standing partners from UNDP Montenegro who have been with us every step of the way, since 2008.  This year, we are particularly thankful to our colleagues from the NATO Public Diplomacy Division who have recognised the programme of Summer School as conducive to the Euro-Atlantic agenda for a more secure world. We are thankful to our partners from the Municipality of Berane for safekeeping of heritage of Duke Gavro Vuković.