Reflections on diplomacy and the power of human connection
Leadership Network member Ellen Dixon shares her insights on diplomacy and the Foundation’s NextGen roundtable held in Palmerston North this month. Titled 'Should we be getting serious and strategic with Asia?', the roundtable examined New Zealand’s approach to diplomacy in the region. Ellen has been involved in NextGen diplomacy for almost a decade and has subsequently been engaged in diplomacy and global education policy with the United Nations and across Asia and the Pacific. The Foundation held the dialogue in partnership with the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs Palmerston North Branch at International Pacifica University in August.
Ellen addressing the room at the Palmerston North Track II NextGen dialogue
I confess: several months ago, I binge-watched the Netflix series, The Diplomat. But it was not Keri Russell’s investigation into a British aircraft carrier that held my attention. Instead, it was the Chatham House speech by Rufus Sewell, where he states:
“Diplomacy is 40 days and nights in a Vienna hotel room, listening to the same empty talking points…. It’s getting to no over, and over, and over…. Diplomacy never works.
Until it does.”
As I sat in the Asia New Zealand Foundation Next Gen Masterclass Programme - Should we be getting Serious and Strategic with Asia? - at International Pacifica University in Palmerston North, my mind briefly strayed from the comfort of a Track II Diplomacy simulation in the warm library.
I was suddenly in the liminal space of countless hours of debate on policy terminology in a little grey side room in a Thailand hotel, fighting tiredness. I was in formal meetings with the delegations from China, Bangladesh and the European Commission, to advocate for constituent engagement. I was traipsing down hot New York streets during the United Nations General Assembly, jetlagged but poised to shake hands with infamous philanthropists and influential, grey-suited diplomats to support our campaigns.
Ellen (second left) and delegates alongside the UN Deputy Secretary General (in green) and UNESCO Assistant Director General for Education (in white) at the 2024 Stocktake of Transformative Actions in Education event in Paris
Prior to starting the roundtable discussion, we considered how diplomacy reflects the art of human connection. How do we manage complex and sometimes conflicting or controversial political topics with others? As Rufus Sewell says in his speech: “Talk to everyone!”
The table abounded with ideas: utilise active listening! remain curious! engage the Japanese concept kuuki wo yomu (reading the air)!
This discussion evidenced we are all diplomatic in some way in our lives and cultures; we are, as Aristotle says, “by nature political animals”. The table rediscovered these traits are inherent to us all.
This is why Churchill grumbled that diplomacy is “only talk”. Diplomacy is social. It is euphonic and metaphoric (no wonder la magnifique langue française is the language of diplomacy).
Diplomacy is oratory and dialogue. It often - in Churchill’s defence - descends into talk on political opinions or positions and talk on talk about political opinions or positions.
Diplomacy is “war by other means”. Other means being by way of the pen or the voice. Or, in the context of the Asia-Pacific, through tribute, in New Zealand’s sports diplomacy, India’s interoperable technology, or China’s Panda diplomacy (which had my colleague from Korea crying on the phone in 2024, that Fu Bao was going to China).
Ellen: "The table abounded with ideas: utilise active listening! remain curious! engage the Japanese concept kuuki wo yomu (reading the air)! "
The Asia-Pacific also exemplifies diplomacy through informal networks and consensus-building: the “ASEAN Way” of long-term trust, quiet dialogue, and mutual respect. This became apparent when the roundtable began, and the dynamics of diplomacy emerged.
Diplomacy is embedded in the social fabric of societies. While landmarks are discussed such as the New Zealand-India Free Trade Agreement or the soft power influence of rugby or dairy exports, the conversation trends towards personal encounters: the impact of social media and responses to political statements on trade with Asia.
Delegates apologised for personalising the dialogue. They then rediscovered the second-wave feminist platitude that remains true in diplomacy: the personal is political.
This is why, when President John F. Kennedy asked a janitor what he did for NASA in 1962, the man stated: “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” In diplomacy, the global and the local, the public and the personal, intersect.
Ellen emceeing at the 6th Asia-Pacific Meeting on Education 2030 at the UNESCO Regional Office for Bangkok in 2024
Almost ten years ago, I entered my first Next Gen Track II Diplomacy simulation with The Foundation's Dr James To.
At that time, I was a wayward linguistics student, who - squished between the voting apathy of the Millennials and the frustrated Gen Z climate activists - absolutely refused to consider myself a political creature. Thanks go to the academics who looked beyond my youthful angst and encouraged my interest in forensic linguistics and security studies, uprooting my indifference.
Language - “talking to everyone” - was my entrance into an unexpected career as a global civil society advocate, and currently as non-staff personnel to the UN system. The personal stories, the conversations, and the debates on policy held in the lecture hall, transitioned naturally to the frontline of negotiations.
Diplomacy never works, until something is achieved. Then, a momentary euphoria sets in. A sense of commonality between people of many backgrounds coming together - important dinners are held, photos are taken, hands are shaken, gifts are given - before the administrative and political realities once again set in. In those moments, we are satisfied, as we know we are actively making history.
In these uncertain geopolitical times, the economic survival and national identity of New Zealand is now intrinsically tied to Asia.
Ellen
Diplomacy is addictive. The success is witnessed at the end of our NextGen roundtable in Palmerston North. Despite some differences in opinion or complex topics, people felt the depth and substance of the interaction.
Some had longer side conversations; others stood around smiling; some wished to document the discussion. Young and old were engaged. Former diplomats, civil society representatives, academics talk about the past and the future combined. Local participants suddenly felt that Asia is accessible to them.
This is the success of the Next Gen programme. This is why I keep coming back.
In these uncertain geopolitical times, the economic survival and national identity of New Zealand is now intrinsically tied to Asia.
As Asia continues to grow beyond 58 percent of the world’s population and more strategic partnerships are formed with ASEAN, Japan, India and the Philippines, diplomacy will change as Asia-Pacific communal identity continues to evolve.
The Next Gen programme continues to remind us: diplomacy never works.
Until it does.
The Foundation's Track II programme supports informal diplomacy with thinktanks in Asia on issues and challenges facing the region.
Our NextGen Track II programme offers opportunities for tertiary students and young professionals to kick start their future in foreign, trade and security policy through NextGen activity.
