Business Diplomat: The Diplomatic Laboratory

It is one thing to say that diplomats need human skills and another to say where they can practise them. In this part of its interview series, Business Diplomat presents the second half of an assessment by Raoul Delcorde, retired Ambassador of Belgium and Guest Professor at UCLouvain. Having described the gap between digital fluency and personal confidence, he proposes a concrete answer to how it can be closed.

From theory to laboratory

First observation: from theory to laboratory
The assessment suggests a change in how diplomatic academies work:
“Diplomatic academies could therefore complement theoretical instruction with practical diplomatic laboratories: crisis simulations, face-to-face negotiations, informal dinners, receptions and intercultural encounters, followed by systematic debriefing.”
The word “complement” is chosen with care: theory remains. But it is no longer the whole of the training. The image of the laboratory is useful. In a laboratory, one performs an experiment, observes the result and learns from it. The examples listed range from the formal, such as crisis simulations and negotiations, to the informal, such as dinners and receptions. The inclusion of informal settings is deliberate, since a great deal of diplomacy takes place away from the negotiating table.

The debrief and reflection

Second observation: the debrief
The last phrase of the sentence is easy to overlook: “followed by systematic debriefing”. Experience alone does not teach; reflection on experience does. A young diplomat who attends a reception learns little unless someone helps them examine what happened, what was signalled and what was missed. The word “systematic” means that debriefing is not an afterthought but a planned part of the model.

Learning from experienced practitioners

Third observation: learning from practitioners
The assessment adds a second element:
“Young diplomats should also learn alongside experienced practitioners, observing how senior diplomats interpret a gesture, a hesitation or an apparently casual remark.”
The three examples show what cannot be found in textbooks. A gesture, a hesitation and a casual remark are small events that carry meaning only for those who know how to read them. This kind of knowledge passes from person to person, through observation and explanation. The word “apparently” in “apparently casual remark” is telling: in diplomacy, few remarks are as casual as they seem.

The bilingual diplomat

Fourth observation: the bilingual diplomat
The assessment names its goal and gives a warning:
“The ultimate goal is to produce a ‘bilingual diplomat’: someone capable of moving effortlessly between the digital and human dimensions of diplomacy. Technology can accelerate communication, analyse information and expand diplomatic reach. But it cannot replace the creation of trust between people. Indeed, the more diplomacy becomes digital, the more valuable genuine human contact may become.”
Bilingualism is a good image: the diplomat speaks two languages and moves between them without effort. The final sentence contains the most interesting idea. As technology makes communication abundant, personal contact becomes scarcer, and a scarce thing tends to gain value. The verb “may” is cautious, but the direction is clear.

The closing principle
Delcorde ends with a sentence that stays in the mind:
“The central principle should therefore be simple: teach diplomats to master technology without allowing technology to master their diplomacy.”

The logic of the assessment
Laboratories provide practice, debriefing turns practice into learning, and experienced practitioners pass on the reading of small signals. The aim is a bilingual diplomat, and the principle is mastery over technology, not the reverse.

The role of Business Diplomat

The role of Business Diplomat
The platform’s mission is to give young people experience, bring a diplomatic order to the business world, and benefit states by revitalising the economy. What Delcorde calls a diplomatic laboratory is close to what the platform can offer: roundtables, meetings and encounters with senior figures, followed by reflection. Young professionals who observe how experienced practitioners read a pause or a remark receive something no online course can give.

Conclusion
The training of tomorrow’s diplomats should include practical laboratories, systematic debriefing and close contact with experienced practitioners. Its goal is a bilingual diplomat who moves between the digital and the human with ease. Business Diplomat aims to help young professionals become that kind of person.