Event - Socially-distanced Diplomacy - the Ambassador in the age of Covid

When: Tuesday, February 2, 2021, 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
Where: Zoom webinar, online

How has Covid affected the capacity of diplomatic Ambassadors to go about their business, and how have they responded to the now familiar restrictions which govern our daily lives?

What have the changes wrought by coronavirus meant for those whose jobs have traditionally been understood almost entirely in terms of face-to-face relationships: a life measured in high-level meetings hosted, global summits attended, or discreet exchanges conducted on often sensitive topics in the margins of a reception?

This event explores the very particular challenges which have arisen for diplomats during the coronavirus pandemic, and the opportunities which have opened up for new ways of doing diplomatic business beyond established norms.

Find out how an often misunderstood profession is adapting itself to socially-distanced diplomacy.

Panel

• Welcome: Professor Colin Grant, Vice Principal (International), Queen Mary University of London.
• Chair: Jon Benjamin, former Director, FCDO Diplomatic Academy, and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Mexico (designate).
• Contributor: Simon Manley CMG, Permanent Representative/Ambassador-designate to the World Trade Organization and United Nations.
• Contributor: Joanna Roper CMG, Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Netherlands.