[MUSIC] Hello, I'm here with Baroness Valerie Amos, director of SOAS, University of London. Valerie, what do you consider diplomacy to be? >> It's a way of talking through problems, it's a way of forging relationships, it's a way of understanding other people, different cultures, different countries. It's a way I think of getting a resolution, ultimately, or ensuring that you have the mechanism to get a resolution to potential problems which may arrive. >> Okay, thank you. In terms of what successful diplomacy look likes. Are there certain characteristics that you can point to in your experience that you would mark out as being these are what successful diplomacy really looks like? >> Well obviously my experience is in terms of international diplomacy, and some of it country to country. But I do think that we have to distinguish between what I would call formal diplomacy, where you have countries that relate to each other. For example, in the international arena, ways of trying to resolve conflict. And what I would call informal diplomacy, I think that we use diplomacy in our lives every single day. We use it in our families. We use it with our friends. We use it in our communities. Because it's a way of trying to diffuse tension. So what does successful diplomacy look like? Well, from my perspective, where for the last five years when I worked at the United Nations, there was very often a diplomacy track that was running hand in hand with various other tracks including a humanitarian track, when we were looking at the impact of conflict in many countries and regions. And obviously what we were looking for very often was for the conflict to end. For some kind of agreed way forward, there was often deep political differences between groups that had resulted in the conflict in the first place. So how do you find a way of actually tapping in to what people are really looking for and find a way of getting both sides to agree on a process which gets them to that and which enables them to buy in and which allows everybody to claim a degree of success. Really good diplomacy requires patience. It requires a really good sense of timing. You need to know which button to press when. It's very important to be tough at certain points to keep it going. And that's why sometimes you hear about diplomatic initiatives that just go on all night. You need to have a great deal of resilience. You need to be able to think outside the box. People need to really trust you, because otherwise it's not going to happen. So you have to be very skillful, very skilled, I think you have to have a degree of charm sometimes to bring people to the table and to keep them at the table until you reach a resolution. >> Thank you. I want to just pick up on one point there. You mentioned how important you felt trust was to diplomacy and perhaps just elaborate on that a moment. >> Well if in a potential conflict situation or in the middle of a conflict situation you're going to bring people together and try to get them to an agree point. It's really important that people have a sense that you're coming to this in a neutral way. By that I don't mean that you don't understand what's going on. But that you're not favoring a side. That actually you're going to be, as it were, an honest broker. So sometimes there are people who would actually be very good at helping to resolve a conflict. But they can't play that role because historically they may have said something or they are perceived to be in some way more strongly connected to one side or another. So that trust is absolutely crucial. And when that trust breaks down, it's sometimes very, very difficult to move on. >> Thank you. Conversely, if you're thinking about when diplomacy fails. What does that look like to you? How do we know when diplomacy is not working? >> Well, then you don't get a resolution to whatever problem that you're seeking to resolve. Sometimes the problems escalate and become much more difficult. People are left very dissatisfied, very unhappy, and things are worse, not better. >> In your experience are there certain individuals or groups of individuals that you would identify as very skilled diplomats and those characteristics again you seen them played out in perhaps your personal experience or examples that you've heard about? >> Yes, I have and perseverance is important. Patience is extremely important. Really being creative, the ability to take risks, that's also very important because sometimes you will do something that feels counter-cultural, but it works, because you understand the situation so well and you understand the people so well. And you can never give up. You have to know sometimes when you have to take people off separately to try to get a resolution, how you bring in people who may be in your broader network. There's a combination of skills and timing is crucial. So you might have a really good diplomat strong negotiator, because I think negotiation skills are crucial as well. But it doesn't work, because the timing's not right. >> So Valerie, if you were to offer some advice to someone wanting to develop a career, or develop the skills of a diplomat, what would that be? >> Well, I think first of all I'd say, don't be put off. That there will be lots of examples where you've actually demonstrated the ability to be a skilled diplomat without you even realizing it. There's a kind of aura, I think, around international diplomacy, around those iconic figures who have helped to bring particular major conflicts to an end. And obviously, that's one end of it. But, it is really about perseverance and patience. And some of it can feel as if you're never going to get to that moment where you're going to crack it. So, be prepared for weeks and months of negotiation. Of really just making tiny steps forward and sometimes even huge steps backwards. But it is incredibly rewarding when it works and when it works well. So go for it, is what I would say. >> Thank you very much, Valerie Amos. >> Thank you. [MUSIC]
