Pardee School Faculty Speak During Young Diplomats Summer School
Erik Goldstein, Professor of International Relations and History at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, and Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, spoke during the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro’s Summer School for Young Diplomats.
The Summer School provides an opportunity for young diplomats to get acquainted with the history, culture, as well as foreign policy priorities of the participating countries, and establish through learning, exchange of views and socializing, mutual rapport and the basis for future cooperation. It brought together 50 prominent speakers, theorists, and practitioners of international relations who brought closer issues of contemporary diplomacy to their younger colleagues.
Goldstein – joined by Kenneth Morrison, Professor of Modern Southeast European History at DeMontfort University in Leicester; Alev Kilic, Director of the Center for Eurasian Studies (AVIMorgtr); and Petros Vamvakas, Associate Professor of Political Science at Emmanuel College – discussed his thoughts on challenges facing the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans today.
In his remarks, Najam discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and global crisis preparation. He stated that COVID-19 was a global event unlike any other, noting:
COVID was the first truly global crisis many of us faced and it offers many lessons for the looming challenges of climate change: about multilateralism, about science, and about resources. The most important lesson has to be the precaution and precaution is so much easier and less costly than acting only when a crisis is upon us.
Details on the Young Diplomats Summer School can be found on their website.