Update
Missed the event? The summary and recording are now available!
A Masterclass with Jovan Kurbalija
Thursday, 25th February
13:00 UTC (08:00 EST | 14:00 CET | 21:00 CST)
When did diplomatic practice start? How did our ancestors solve conflicts? Are humans biologically more prone to conflicts or cooperation?
Join us on Thursday to discuss these and other important topics.
In preparation, listen to our interview with primatologist Prof. Frans de Waal below.
LATEST: Listen to our podcast interview with Prof. Frans de Waal, primatologist.
We asked Prof. de Waal to tell us more about the behaviour of primates, how and when they negotiate, compromise, and mediate, in order to find the earliest origins of diplomacy.
In our introductory January session, we set the course for our journey by explaining the routes that we plan to explore, the stops that we will be making on the way, and the people that we will meet during the journey.
Our next stop is the prehistoric world, much different from the world we know today. Yet, today's social patterns were set a long time ago. The emergence of social organisations, such as clans and tribes, led to the interaction between these groups in both wartime and peacetime (conflicts and cooperation). The first negotiations and search for compromise appeared in this period.
Prehistoric people were probably the first diplomats. They negotiated, as we do today, by using more or less the same techniques of persuasion. Conflicted parties tried to develop bonds beyond simple truces as we do today. They searched for compromise, often unwillingly, as we do today.
We will see how the emergence of language, speech, and social structures (in various forms of cohabitation) influenced prehistoric diplomacy.
Join us in the search for the beginnings of diplomacy, on Thursday, 25th February, at 13:00 UTC (14:00 CET)
Registrations are now closed. You can follow the event on YouTube and Facebook live streams
Our experts involved
Dr Jovan Kurbalija
Executive Director
Dr Jovan Kurbalija is the Executive Director of DiploFoundation and Head of the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP). He was a member of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (2004‒2005), special advisor to the Chairman of the UN Internet Governance Forum (2006‒2010), and a member of the High Level Multistakeholder Committee for NETmundial (2013‒2014). In 2018-2019, he served as co-Executive Director of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation.
A former diplomat, Jovan has a professional and academic background in international law, diplomacy, and information technology. He has been a pioneer in the field of cyber diplomacy since 1992 when he established the Unit for Information Technology and Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta, and later, DiploFoundation.
Since 1997, Jovan’s research and articles on cyber diplomacy have shaped research and policy discussion on the impact of the Internet on diplomacy and international relations. His book, An Introduction to Internet Governance, has been translated into 9 languages and is used as a textbook for academic courses worldwide. He lectures on e-diplomacy and Internet governance in academic and training institutions in many countries, including Austria (Diplomatic Academy of Vienna), Belgium (College of Europe), Switzerland (University of St Gallen), Malta (University of Malta), and the United States (University of Southern California).
His publishes regular articles on DiploFoundation's blog, and the Huffington Post.