Content (Syllabus outline):

• The evolution of economic diplomacy:

Diplomacy starts with trade: consulates precede ‘embassies’; the Levant Company sets up the English embassy in Constantinople, 1583; the subsequent advance of high politics; the age of imperialism and the slow recovery of economic diplomacy. Diplomacy ends with trade: growth of importance of international trade and capital flows (even to USA); new political need of diplomatic services to respond to business lobbies at home; Britain: near bankruptcy in 1945; a succession of official reports insists on overriding priority of commerce.

• Economic diplomacy today:

the definitions of economic diplomacy; principal content; the stages traversed by countries in practice of economic diplomacy; public diplomacy, image management and economic diplomacy; how economic diplomacy connects with other branches of diplomatic work; working with home actors, learning from them.

• The regulatory environment and the domestic context:

extent and consequences of ‘managed trade’; dumping and complaints procedures; trade negotiations; role of chambers of commerce and industry associations; special role of embassies in such domestic outreach; role of think tanks and NGOs; public diplomacy dimension of trade.

• The embassy economic section:

the staff of the economic section, including the importance of locally engaged staff; the position of the section within the embassy and comparisons between diplomatic services; how many ambassadors have had significant experience of economic diplomacy? Does this suggest that economic diplomacy has the real priority that the usual rhetoric suggests? If not, why not?

• Trade and investment promotion:

importance of trade, focus on exports, pursuit of new markets and new products; dispute settlement and role of official agencies; value and domestic role of foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio, private equity and other forms of investment; broad and targeted promotion; role of specialised agencies; two-way FDI flows.

• Craft skills:

Business delegations and trade exhibitions: country promotion exhibitions and specialised trade fairs; selection, observation and participation; exhibition techniques and best practices; organisation of business delegations; role of missions in both outbound and homebound groups; planning, preparation and follow-up; delegations accompanying summit and other official visits.

• Economic sanctions:

why economic sanctions became popular in the 20th century; the variety of purposes they are designed to serve; the different kinds of sanctions; the role of embassies; how states defend themselves against sanctions, including cultivation of business lobbies (e.g. South Africa under apartheid; Iraq under Saddam; Iran today); smart sanctions versus stupid sanctions.

• WTO and Free Trade Areas (FTAs):

basic features of the multilateral trading system; WTO process and its future; likely outcomes of current, convoluted negotiations; preferential trade agreements (PTAs), including commonalities and differences; are FTAs and PTAs building or stumbling blocks to a multilateral trading system?

• Energy diplomacy