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  2. Diplomatic Reporting

Diplomatic Reporting

Information is the lifeblood of the diplomatic services with diplomats, like veins and arteries, reporting from their posts back to their home countries. These diplomatic reports, or cables, as they are more commonly known, keep information flowing; they help co-ordinate activities and prepare the groundwork for decisions.

While reporting remains an intellectual activity requiring good judgment, good cognitive skills, and a good writing style, it, too, has been affected by the Internet. What should be reported? How should diplomats integrate into their cables what has already been published by journalists, bloggers, and other providers of information? What value do diplomatic reports add to the already available information and analysis provided by Wikipedia and blogs, among others? What is the usability of the new generation of artificial intelligence tools for summarising texts?

This portal explores the function of diplomatic reporting and the impact of technology on this important function.

What is diplomatic reporting?

Thousands of reports are written every day: they record meetings, analyse situations, and suggest actions. Since the ancient Egyptian Tal-Amarna diplomacy right up until the present day, diplomatic reports have been at the heart of diplomacy. They very often determine the internal chemistry of diplomatic services. Diplomats try to establish their positions and gain peer-recognition through the quality of their reports.

One way to look at diplomatic reporting is to consider it as one facet of a broader and more general phenomenon - the flow of information. Transmission of information is a basic human activity that in one form or another takes place all the time and under multiple circumstances. It is a product of instinct combined with need. Like any other method of information flow diplomatic reporting needs to have its own recognisable structure. It has to emerge from a clearly defined context. It needs direction and purpose. It should avail itself of whatever means of communication are currently available.

Thousands of reports are written every day: they record meetings, analyse situations, and suggest actions. Since the ancient Egyptian Tal-Amarna diplomacy right up until the present day, diplomatic reports have been at the heart of diplomacy. They very often determine the internal chemistry of diplomatic services. Diplomats try to establish their positions and gain peer-recognition through the quality of their reports.

One way to look at diplomatic reporting is to consider it as one facet of a broader and more general phenomenon - the flow of information. Transmission of information is a basic human activity that in one form or another takes place all the time and under multiple circumstances. It is a product of instinct combined with need. Like any other method of information flow diplomatic reporting needs to have its own recognisable structure. It has to emerge from a clearly defined context. It needs direction and purpose. It should avail itself of whatever means of communication are currently available.

   

Two contrasting aspects characterise the flow of information in whatever form it is conducted. On the one hand once information exists there is both the need as well as the natural tendency for it to flow outwards. One may put this in another way. Information cannot exist in isolation. There is the need for a human recipient, as much as a human conveyor, for facts and events to become information. The underlying thrust is therefore towards all type of reporting, including diplomatic reporting, to become open and unrestrained.

The question is the extent to which there are limits to this openness, and furthermore who decides on these limits. This leads to another, and contradictory, aspect of the issue of information flow. Information is a form of power. Withholding information is a means for one individual or a group of individuals to exercise control over others.

On the whole, technology has been on the side of the moves towards freer flow of information, though it has occasionally also been used for the opposite purposes. The major breakthrough came with the invention of printing. One could go back even further, to the invention of writing.  The latest breakthrough is represented by the internet. It is useful to put the Internet phenomenon in this historical context. In the way it is evolving, Internet forms part of the age-long contest pointing towards a freer and more open flow of information.

Excerpt from Diplomatic Reporting in the Internet Era, a paper by Ambassador Victor Camilleri.

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From our blog

Has diplomatic reporting shifted from narrative to data?

Virdzinija Saveska   15 Jun 2017   Alumni, Diplomacy

Information has always been at the core of diplomacy. The increase in quantity and quality of information on which states and other actors in international relations can rely for decision-making presents an opportunity for the advancement of diplomatic reporting. Due to easier access to data, diplomatic reporting has the potential to uphold the highest standards when it comes to accuracy and objectivity.

0 comments

Diplomats as Writers – Marrying the Arts and Diplomacy

Katharina Hone   14 Mar 2017   Diplomacy, Webinars

In our March WebDebate, we explored the contribution of diplomats to literature and cultural heritage and also looked at how art and diplomacy can be usefully combined. We asked: What can we learn from diplomats who also engage in the arts? What role does creativity play for diplomacy? Are there are any overlaps between poetic and diplomatic language? Are there certain lessons in the diplomatic craft that can only be expressed through literature and art?

0 comments

Key skills for the next generation of diplomats

Mina Mudric   12 Oct 2016   Diplomacy, Webinars

Our October WebDebate focused on the key skills that the next generation of diplomats needs in order to succeed in a changing world. While there seems to be a core and timeless skill-set for diplomats, an increasingly connected world places new demands on the diplomatic profession.

0 comments
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Training and courses

Diplomatic Theory and Practice
Starting 21 February 2022
E-Diplomacy

Events

Diplomatic reporting in the Internet era

15 May 2014 - 16 May 2014  | WMO, 7bis, Avenue de la Paix, Geneva

Diplomatic reporting in the Internet era after WikiLeaks

9 February 2011  | Geneva / online (live webinar)

WikiLeaks and the Future of Diplomacy

11 January 2011  | GCSP, Geneva

Books and publications

21st Century Diplomacy: A Practitioner’s Guide
Kishan S. Rana

Resources

Diplomatic Reporting: No need to compete with media (CNN, BBC)
How can Wikis improve diplomatic reporting?
Diplomatic Reporting in the Internet Era
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What's next?

Join us for the various events related to data diplomacy, and get in touch with us:

  • Enrol for Diplo’s E-diplomacy online course
  • Learn more about Diplo’s Data Diplomacy research project, in collaboration with the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Join the online discussion on e-diplomacy; connect with bloggers and share your ideas and experiences
  • Subscribe to DiploNews, Diplo’s bi-monthly e-newsletter

Join us for the various events related to data diplomacy, and get in touch with us:

  • Enrol for Diplo’s E-diplomacy online course
  • Learn more about Diplo’s Data Diplomacy research project, in collaboration with the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Join the online discussion on e-diplomacy; connect with bloggers and share your ideas and experiences
  • Subscribe to DiploNews, Diplo’s bi-monthly e-newsletter

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