Guest lecture on Diplomacy and other Streams of International Relations

Report

Guest Lecture

Diplomacy and other Streams of International Relations

The Department of Political Science organised a guest lecture for students and faculty on 27th March 2017. The topic of the lecture was ‘Diplomacy and other Streams of International Relations’ wherein the guest speaker was the former Swiss Ambassador, Mr. Benoit Girardin. He has served his country as Ambassador to various countries like Mexico, Pakistan, and Madagascar etc. Throughout his speech he emphasized skills and tactics required as a Diplomat. Without going into too much technical detail he managed to apprise the students with valuable knowledge about the art of Diplomacy. Some points that he mentioned were : the importance of having good listening skills while interacting with representatives from other nations, an eye for detail , good analytical skills and most importantly as a diplomat how to strike a  balance between being loyal to one's  home country and honest in one’s representation of it. He also spoke about various other streams of International Relations like, bilateral and multilateral relations, ethics in International Relations, current international scenario and the role of major international actors. His talk was followed by an interactive session with students which also brought to the fore various other issues related to international politics. He also shared some of his personal experience. Overall the session was informative and fruitful.