On the uses of contrariness

A madman is someone who draws correct conclusions
from false premises.
John LOCKE
In the years spent at Diplo I have indulged my taste for contrariness. I have been called “Resident Contrarian” – part in jest, part in frustration, and sometimes in anger. Surviving as a contrarian is far from easy – for one easily oversteps the bounds [...]

Economists and Climate Change – Homework Comes First

 
A Comment to Henderson
Aldo Matteucci – DiploFoundation, Geneva (Switzerland)
 
David HENDERSON (World Economics X, 1) is certainly right in highlighting the “uncritical and over-presumptive ways in which [economists] have dealt with the scientific aspects” of climate change. All of his points are well taken and deserve expeditious and thorough treatment. As the aging IBM-adage says: garbage [...]

The Power of Self-Organisation

Aldo Matteucci – DiploFoundation, Geneva
 
We all believe in organisation. We worship the Great (or Intelligent) Organiser in the sky, and we admire great organisers, from Alexander of Macedonia to Napoleon. Our mental structures are ‘wired’ toward organisation – cause and effect yielding vertical structures and an causing an ‘ideal’ or ‘visionary’ order to come into [...]

The Dark Side of Diplomacy

Reading books on diplomacy (and even history books on the subject) one might be misled into believing that it is akin to engineering – a matter of precise calculation of advantages and costs. Of course, in practice building bridges is different than drawing plans in an air-conditioned office, so one may expect to get one’s [...]

The ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ Revisited

Aldo Matteucci
Senior Fellow, DiploFoundation
Garrett HARDIN[i] argues that where exceedingly numerous ‘rational and economic’ agents exploit a finite resource, only mutual coercion mutually agreed upon can stop the overexploitation of the ‘commons’. He states: “The only kind of coercion I recommend is mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon by the majority of the people affected.”
HARDIN denies [...]

Diplomacy Is Where There Are No Rules

Aldo Matteucci
Senior Fellow, DiploFoundation
He had bought a large map representing the sea,Without the least vestige of land:And the crew were much pleased when they found it to beA map they could all understand.
Lewis CARROLL: The hunting of the Snark
I’d made this comment recently in an off-hand sort of way. I’ve been challenged – so [...]

Can We Really Teach Diplomacy?

This is a provocative question for a Foundation that aims to teach diplomatic skills. Yet it is a question that crossed my mind as I was preparing a series of teaching modules on Climate Change Diplomacy.
We teach administration of diplomacy – the humdrum tasks of setting up a diplomatic post, getting organised, ensuring accountability and [...]

Does the Subprime Crisis Hold Lessons for a MFA?

Some of the best managed entities in the business world – transnational financial institutions – have been caught wrong footed. Past dealing with the immediate consequences of their errors, banks are changing their structures better to meet the challenges ahead.
A first structural lesson that seems to be emerging is a clearer articulation of the functions [...]