Join us for a launch event with the editors of the forthcoming volume New Perspectives on Diplomacy.

Professor Jack Spence OBE, Professor of Diplomacy, Department of War Studies

Dr Claire Yorke, Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for Grand Strategy, Department of War Studies

Dr Alastair Masser, author and academic researcher

Effective diplomacy remains fundamental to the conduct of international relations in the twenty-first century, as we seek to define and manage a challenging new world order peacefully.

New Perspectives on Diplomacy examines the implications of the shifting international landscape upon how states interact with one another. Reflecting on the significant changes to the system of states over the past 50 years, including the end of the Cold War, the rise of transnational networks, challenges to borders, growth in national populism and the increasing difficulties presented to diplomats by radical transparency, the first volume presents the global context against which contemporary diplomacy is conducted.

Bios

Professor Jack Spence OBE has been one of the leading figures in International Relations for several decades. He has been awarded 3 honorary doctorates and 4 honorary fellowships, one from King's College London. His work has covered theory and practice, with focuses on international politics as a field, diplomacy, nationalism, africa, war and defence education, and poetry and literature. Born in South Africa, he came to Britain for postgraduate study at the LSE.

Dr Claire Yorke is an author and academic researcher. Between 2018-2020 she was a Henry A. Kissinger Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at International Security Studies and the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University. Her writing and research explores the role and limitations of empathy and emotions in international affairs, diplomacy, strategy, leadership and policy-making.

Dr Alastair Masser focuses on conflict, security, and development in sub-Saharan Africa. He is a former UK Government Special Adviser, and has published a number of reports on issues including the drivers of development, post-conflict reconciliation, and migration and trafficking. He runs a social impact consultancy conducting research examining Nigeria’s security crisis and plans to be an active commentator and election observer for the country’s 2023 presidential campaign. Ahead of this, he is preparing a book manuscript for publication in 2022, based upon his PhD thesis which he completed at the Department of War Studies in 2020.