Independent Diplomat Skoll Awardee Profile

Organization Overview

Key Info

Social Entrepreneur Carne Ross

Year Awarded 2013

Issue Area Addressed Environmental Sustainability, Peace and Human Rights

Sub Issue Area Addressed Clean Energy, Peace

Countries Served Bangladesh, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Syria, Western Sahara, Yemen

Website http://www.independentdiplomat.org

Twitter handle IDiplomat

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/independentdiplo mat?fref=ts

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/IndependentD iplomat

About the Organization Independent Diplomat (ID) is a unique non-profit venture in the world of international relations, diplomacy, and conflict prevention. ID provides independent and confidential advice and assistance in diplomatic technique and strategy to governments, political groups, international institutions, and non-governmental organizations. ID’s work helps those facing complex international and political challenges to achieve their objectives. Their staff includes experienced former diplomats, international lawyers, and other experts in international relations. Their advice is impartial and staff members have no allegiance or affiliation to other governments or institutions. ID has had projects in Africa, Asia, and Europe; a project to improve the effectiveness of the UN Security Council; and an initiative to assist small island states in global climate change negotiations. They work with a broad network of individuals and organizations, including law firms, commercial consultancies, and universities, who support and assist ID’s work on a pro bono basis. ID holds itself and its clients to strict ethical standards. It requires its clients to be committed to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Impact

ID has been behind the scenes of some of the biggest international policy issues of the past two years, including: climate change (working with the Republic of Marshall Islands’ President and Vice President equivalent), Syrian peace negotiations (working with the Syrian National Coalition and its President), and The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States (with Somaliland’s Ministry of National Planning and Development). However, ID faced a major disappointment and saw its ethical criteria put to the test in December 2013 after disturbing reports of state violence by the South Sudanese government (with whom they had worked to help South Sudan gain independence).

Path to Scale

Independent Diplomat adds value to existing diplomatic assets (diplomats, civil society and the forums through which they negotiate) through a powerful methodology (new tools and tactics), enabling marginalized countries and groups to take back the power in negotiations about their future and gain more from the diplomatic process.

Social Entrepreneur

Carne Ross was a British diplomat for 15 years, serving for 4 years as the UK’s Middle East/Iraq expert at the United Nations Security Council. In protest over the government’s manipulation of intelligence on WMD in Iraq, he resigned, throwing his life into crisis: he loved diplomacy, but believed that there was something deeply wrong with how it was practiced. When he resigned, Carne was working on secondment with the UN in Kosovo, which was still part of Serbia. Powerful countries, led by the secretive six-country “Contact Group,” were discussing Kosovo’s future status. The democratic government of Kosovo, prohibited from having a foreign service, was marginalized. This contributed to frustration and violence in Kosovo, and made for bad diplomacy on Kosovo’s future: Kosovo’s people were expected to accept the outcome of negotiations without having a say. This was the genesis of Independent Diplomat (ID), which Carne continues to lead as its Executive Director.

Equilibrium Overview

Current Equilibrium

Globalization has complicated the conventional model of state-to-state diplomacy. Many issues are now global, requiring multi-lateral rather than just bi-lateral negotiations. Modern conflict is often fought within states rather than between them. The international system of diplomacy is marked by rules and protocols that often favor more powerful countries with well resourced, professionalized foreign service systems. Weaker parties often lack the skills, resources and experience required to have their needs addressed peacefully and often become marginalized during negotiations. This imbalance makes agreements less sustainable and increases the likelihood of conflict.

New Equilibrium

In the new equilibrium, affected groups (state and non-state actors) have access to diplomatic forums and are always at the table when international discussions about their futures are held. These groups are trained in diplomatic processes and maintain sufficient technical expertise to engage in meaningful policy discussions. Through inclusive dialogue, these groups raise the public profile of their challenges on the global stage, building a better understanding of the issue and generating support within governments and the international community. This more inclusive, transparent and representative international diplomacy system enables traditionally weaker parties to seek just outcomes and ultimately contributes to conflict resolution and prevention.

Innovation

ID advises and assists marginalized yet legitimate governments and political groups on how to better access and influence diplomatic processes that affect them. This involves strategic advice across the three pillars of international diplomacy: political strategy, legal advice and public diplomacy. ID does not represent or speak for its clients (with a few notable exceptions, including ID’s Climate Change Director representing the Marshall Islands at the UNFCCC talks on specific technical issues), but instead guides clients through complex and opaque diplomatic processes so that they can better present their needs and use the diplomatic system to their advantage. ID also acquires and shares critical diplomatic intelligence and back channel information gathered from its network of diplomatic relationships. ID does not provide training courses, but rather aims to improve clients’ diplomatic skills through: Political Strategy Strategic advisory & tactics: Strategic advice and day-to-day tactics aimed at influencing the international community and achieving client goals at key diplomatic forums.In-situ support: Representation at diplomatic negotiations (e.g. UNFCCC climate negotiating sessions and informal consultations, Geneva negotiating process on Syria, the Major Economies Forum, etc.) and during other bilateral diplomatic meetings and diplomatic encounters.Technical support: Support on highly technical policy issues. For example, ID’s support of RMI in the technical UNFCCC negotiations is crucial for ensuring The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) maintains the political credibility necessary to convene the High Ambition Coalition (HAC).Written outputs: Including policy talking points, substantive proposals, strategy papers, meeting records, briefings, op-eds and press quotes for senior officials, drafting speeches, assisting with technical negotiations and gathering diplomatic intelligence.Diplomatic analysis: Provision of analysis on key actors (e.g. UN Member States, UN, African Union, Human Rights Council) to enhance policy positions.Diplomatic Outreach: Includes setting diplomatic goals, securing high profile events and meetings with key senior EU, UN and Member State policy makers, coaching for meetings and drafting of policy statements, talking points and letters to key officials. Legal advice: Analysis and advice on public international law, international dispute settlement, human rights and international humanitarian law, Law of the Sea, etc. ID partners with legal advisors who provide some of this support in-kind.Public diplomacy: Includes facilitating media interviews, providing talking points, drafting op-eds, organizing press conferences, drafting and issuing public statements and developing original social media and creative content. Prior to ID's founding, there was no service providing expertise in diplomacy to marginalized parties, nor had many of these excluded parties considered using diplomacy to their strategic advantage. Although there are now various training programs that exist on diplomacy, the most notable of which is conducted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, ID is the only organization that takes on democratic groups and governments as clients. As of 2018, ID's key initiatives are with stakeholders from the Republic of the Marshall Islands and High Ambition Coalition, Network for Refugee Voices, Syria, Western Sahara, and Rohingya civil society groups and activists. Descriptions of these distinct initiatives are available in the Impact Reach section, with additional detail in the Impact Depth and Progress Towards Equilibrium Change sections.

Ambition for Change

The rules of diplomacy become more inclusive, leading to successful resolution of more conflicts.