February 2009 Online Courses

Diplo will offer 3 postgraduate-level online courses starting the week of February 23, 2009:

* Diplomatic Theory and Practice
Prof.G. R. Berridge, Mr Haraldur Þór Egilsson, Mr Christiaan Sys
* Cyber Diplomacy
Mr Stefano Baldi, Dr Jovan Kurbalija, Dr Andrei Mikheyev
* Public Diplomacy
Ambassador Kishan Rana and Dr Biljana Scott

These three online courses are available as University of Malta Accredited Courses (application deadline: December 22, 2008) and Diplo Certificate Courses (application deadline: January 19, 2009).

Courses are designed to allow working diplomats and others involved in international relations to continue their education by learning about new topics in the field of diplomacy, or expanding and refreshing their knowledge of more traditional topics. Courses require 10 weeks of part-time study, typically 7-10 hours per week.

Each course consists of eight lectures, each of which takes a week to complete. Each lecture includes a lecture text, online activities such as self-assessment quizzes, discussion forums, and further resources, all provided through an online classroom. Following a weekly cycle, participants read the lecture text, adding and responding to questions, comments and references in the form of hypertext entries. At the end of the weekly cycle, participants and lecturers meet online in a chat room to discuss the lecture text and other resources. Participants are expected to complete one or two assignments based on course materials, and to write a final examination. Courses are based on a collaborative approach to learning.

For more information please click on the titles of the courses above.
To apply, please visit Diplo’s course website or contact admissions@diplomacy.edu.

Diplomatic Theory and Practice

This course provides a clear account of the shape and functions of the world diplomatic system as it stands at the beginning of the 21st century: what it is, what it does, and why it is important. The course aims to provide knowledge of the nature of diplomacy; when diplomacy is appropriate; the advantages and disadvantages of different diplomatic methods; and the lexicon of diplomacy. In general, a participant who has successfully completed this course should have a strong grasp of the nature of diplomacy conceived as a specialised professional activity developed over many centuries, and be able to defend its value with authority and enthusiasm.

Cyber Diplomacy

Diplomats make extensive use of computers and the Internet in their daily work. The sheer amount of information and software available has made Information and Communication Technology (ICT) a vital tool in most diplomatic activities. But are diplomats - and other people interested in international affairs – using ICT tools to their best and fullest advantage? This course explores some of the possibilities offered by new technologies to improve diplomatic activities. The different components of the course also highlight some risks (and opportunities) of the tools and the information available.

Public Diplomacy

Public diplomacy is a “hot button” topic today - a decade back, even the term was known only to some specialists. Globalization, the resurgence in the methods of diplomacy, bilateral, regional and multilateral, and the telescoping of external and internal issues, and more than anything else the “democratization” of diplomacy has opened up the way in which governments and countries deal with one another in the international system. Ordinary people are more interested in foreign affairs than ever before, and want “open” diplomacy. Governments feel obliged to communicate with their publics, on objectives and the results achieved with the funds they receive. The foreign has come home in many concrete ways, ranging from WTO issues, or terrorism, or climate security - all these impact on the lives of ordinary people everywhere. This is the backdrop to public diplomacy as an emerging theme in diplomatic studies.