Prague, Czech Republic

International Studies and Diplomacy

Mezinárodní studia a diplomacie

Table of contents

⇑International Studies and Diplomacy at VŠE

Language: Czech Studies in Czech
Subject area: social
University website: www.vse.cz
Type: Doctoral programme
Duration: 3 years / 4 years

⇑Definitions and quotes

Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to a full range of topical issues. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians. David Stevenson reports that by 1900 the term "diplomats" also covered diplomatic services, consular services and foreign ministry officials.
International
International mostly means something (a company, language, or organization) involving more than a single country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries. For example, international law, which is applied by more than one country and usually everywhere on Earth, and international language which is a language spoken by residents of more than one country.
International Studies
International Studies (IS) generally refers to the specific university degrees and courses which are concerned with the study of ‘the major political, economic, social, and cultural issues that dominate the international agenda’. Predominant topics are politics, economics and law on a global level. The term itself can be more specifically defined as ‘the contemporary and historical understanding of global societies, cultures, languages and systems of government and of the complex relationships between them that shape the world we live in’. The terms and concepts of International Studies and international relations are strongly related; however, International relations focus more directly on the relationship between countries, whereas International Studies can encompass all phenomena which are globally oriented.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is to do and say
The nastiest things in the nicest way.
Isaac Goldberg, The Reflex.
Diplomacy
All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means.
Zhou Enlai, Saturday Evening Post (27 March 1954); this is a play upon the famous maxim of Clausewitz: "War is the continuation of politics by other means".
Diplomacy
It would be some time before I fully realized that the United States sees little need for diplomacy; power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacy. This is why the weak are so deeply concerned with the democratic principle of the sovereign equality of states, as a means of providing some small measure of equality for that which is not equal in fact. Coming from a developing country, I was trained extensively in international law and diplomacy and mistakenly assumed that the great powers, especially the United States, also trained their representatives in diplomacy and accepted the value of it. But the Roman Empire had no need for diplomacy. Nor does the United States. Diplomacy is perceived by an imperial power as a waste of time and prestige and a sign of weakness.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as quoted in Unvanquished : A U.S. - U.N. Saga (1999), p. 198.
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