Diplomacy disrupted: envoys adapt their work amid the COVID crisis

The pandemic has disrupted how diplomats do their work, but they say it’s also made clear the importance of local connections and information in response to a crisis. Gone are the days where diplomats mingle at large events hosted in their residences, the Château Laurier, parliamentary buildings, or on the sidelines of multilateral events. That’s where the best ideas are formed, said French ambassador to Canada Kareen Rispal, when people have face-to-face interactions and you can read a room. “I'm really missing the ground,” she said. “It’s difficult to be as creative as I was.” “The big picture is diplomacy has been disrupted,” added Ms. Rispal, who alongside other diplomats described working “day and night" after countries started locking down, where their work shifted to an almost entirely consular focus. That’s typically a tiny part of a head of mission’s role, which Ms. Rispal said is one of “building bridges.” Every year, she typically welcomes about 8,000 guests to the Sussex Drive residence, and now it’s mostly empty. It’s a shift she dislikes, and long term, she said she doesn’t think Zoom diplomacy can replace human interaction in her world. “I think the way we are doing it is quite difficult, but we have no choice,” said Ms. Rispal, whose calendar is usually booked a year in advance for conferences, speaking engagements, and the like. Now, “it's only week by week and it’s mostly by Zoom,” she said, and she’s still trying to find the balance between such online gatherings and smaller, more intimate in-person meetings. Still, it’s true that the CEOs, ministers, and other politicians who would be harder to book have become far more available now that they’re sidelined from travelling, she noted. “I think it was productive only because I already knew these people, when you already have a network, people know who you are and the dialogue is easy. When it’s a new person …. I think it’s a nightmare. I’m thinking of all my new colleagues coming here.” While he didn’t quite describe it that way, the new Norwegian ambassador Jon Elvedal Fredriksen agreed the pandemic makes entering into a new posting more challenging, but he stressed it's important that ambassador positions be filled during this time. He said Canadian officials have been helpful and forthcoming, with all doing their best. “Nevertheless, it’s a little bit like driving your head into this soft cushion, that you have this feeling that you never really get under the skin of things,” said Mr. Fredriksen, who virtually presented his credentials alongside five others on Oct. 13. “After all, we are humans, and I think we need to feel a little bit on atmosphere, hear people’s voice in the room to fine tune our understanding of things.” It’s become the normal order of business and part of how Canada is adapting its approaches to protocol and diplomacy, noted Stewart Wheeler, the country’s chief of protocol. It still amounted to a “dignified, but warm and friendly,” online ceremony, Mr. Wheeler said in a Twitter post that pictured the six new faces and noted it’s meant the same for goodbyes as well, via a virtual farewell to Argentinian Ambassador Eugenio Curia. https://twitter.com/StewartRWheeler/status/1317135131824525312 It was the second crop to be welcomed in this way after Vietnam’s new ambassador, Pham Cao Phong, and South Korea’s new ambassador, Chang Keung Ryong, on July 16 became the first heads of mission to give their letters of credence in a virtual ceremony. Now flying into Ottawa isn’t always the mode of arrival, with both Mr. Pham and Mr. Fredriksen saying they arrived in Montreal and were driven to the capital. Seeing the empty airport was a shock to Mr. Fredriksen last month, when Norway seems to have more domestic travel. Perhaps one positive development the pandemic has prompted is a second look at the extensive travelling for multilateral meetings across the world, he said. “I think there will be more green thinking, at least from Western governments,” like Norway, he said, which, like Canada, has adopted a “build back better” motto that prioritizes the environment. Still, he said he believes with more serious negotiations between counterparts or multilateral negotiations, it would be difficult to get results by Zoom. “At the end of day you need people to be in the same room to agree on the big issues,” he said. Ease of connections an ‘eye opener’ Swedish ambassador Urban Ahlin, who came to Ottawa in February 2019, said the pandemic has brought home how big Canada is for an ambassador to cover, and having Swedish companies on video calls from Manitoba to B.C., he’s realized how much easier it is to connect using these tools and reach out in a much broader way. “I’m surprised that we haven’t done this before,” he said, though with expensive airfares it also wouldn’t have been possible to have as many involved. Aside from the immediate crush of consular demands, Mr. Ahlin said the pandemic has shifted the diplomatic focus from one of recovery to one more geared towards economic connections. “That has been an eye-opener for me, how easy it is to get everyone on board and have meetings and discussion about what is going on economically and what we can do to support Swedish companies,” said Mr. Ahlin, who added his embassy wasn’t very prepared to do everything digitally, so it took some time to get the necessary materials. And even when that happened, Canada’s internet services left something to be desired, he said, noting the expensive prices and unreliability. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of trade connections for New Zealand, too, said its new High Commissioner Martin Harvey. Developing trade under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was a priority before COVID-19, and remains a central focus, “We want to ensure that our exports hold up in Canada and we can grow them as much as we can. Of course the COVID environment means the way we do that, working with colleagues who work in trade and investment in Canada, we have to think of different ways of doing it,” said Mr. Harvey, who arrived in January, giving him about six weeks of runway for the normal introductory meetings to start a posting. Given the inability of business leaders to meet directly as often, he said that opens an increased role for the government in helping them with greater amounts of intelligence, as well as addressing any regulatory barriers, supply chain problems, or commercial challenges. Diplomats have acted as ears on the ground, communicating crucial information about the health situation in their respective countries to give the sense of risk and also act as liaisons on health developments, and even the rise of, what Mr. Harvey called, “vaccine diplomacy.” “There’s still a strong wish to understand anything that looks new, different, or innovative in terms of policies,” he said. Because no one is travelling to the same extent, in some ways it’s strengthened the role of diplomats; those in missions are the most able to give information from the ground and assess what’s happening in their respective countries, agreed Ms. Rispal. “The importance of the embassies around the world has been strengthened,” she said, especially with European Union ministers meeting so frequently in Brussels, the perception became that diplomats were less important. “That was a revival of our role.” swallen@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Diplomatic Circles

Diplomacy disrupted: envoys adapt their work amid the COVID crisis

‘I think the way we are doing it is quite difficult but we have no choice,’ says French Ambassador Kareen Rispal, who thinks the pandemic has also created a ‘revival’ in the importance of missions.

Health misinformation is hurting patients and undermining trust. Let’s do something about it.

News

Get free news updates

Opinion

Submit a guest opinion article

resources

Follow us

Advertise

subscribe

get help

Get free news updates

Submit a guest opinion article

Diplomatic Circles

Diplomacy disrupted: envoys adapt their work amid the COVID crisis

‘I think the way we are doing it is quite difficult but we have no choice,’ says French Ambassador Kareen Rispal, who thinks the pandemic has also created a ‘revival’ in the importance of missions.

Become a Political Insider