Diplomatic Studies at Oxford
The Oxford University Diplomatic Studies Programme (formerly known as Foreign Service Programme) is a long-running programme of courses offered by the University of Oxford in the field of diplomacy. The programme was originally established in 1969 in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with the intention of educating diplomats in newly-independent Commonwealth countries.[1] The programme has since run continuously, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2019, and now consists of a Master of Studies and a Postgraduate Diploma in Diplomatic Studies aimed at young diplomats and those interested in entering the profession.[2] Over its many years within the university, alumni of the programme have included royalty and heads of state, as well as senior government figures from all over the world.[3][4][5][6]
History[edit]
Building on a long history of Oxbridge being linked to the British civil service, in 1926, Oxford and Cambridge jointly ran a Tropical African Services Course on behalf of the British Colonial Office.[7] This programme continued in varying forms and under different names for another forty-three years, as the Colonial Administrative Service Course (1934), the Devonshire Course (1945), Course ‘A’ and ‘B’ (1953), the Overseas Service Course (1962) and, finally, the Overseas Course in Government and Development (1964).[8]
As many Commonwealth states gained independence, their governments sought trained diplomats to staff their Foreign Services. In response to this need, in the 1960s, the Overseas Course was adapted to allow for a small Foreign Service component, morphing, in 1964, into a coherent and more integrated Foreign Service Training Course under the auspices of the Overseas Service Course. Examinations were instituted in 1966.
When the Overseas Service Course was discontinued in 1969, the Foreign Service element of that course was transformed into the Foreign Service Programme, based out of Queen Elizabeth House.[9] In the decades that followed, the programme expanded its audience to governments in the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office requested places be made available to newly-independent, former Soviet countries to help build their diplomatic capacity. In 2010, the programme moved to the Department for Continuing Education within the university and in 2017, it changed its name to the Diplomatic Studies Programme reflecting the more common terminology in the modern academic field.[10]
Notable Alumni[edit]
A number of significant government figures and heads of state have been a part of the Diplomatic Studies Programme or its predecessor the Foreign Service Programme. Alumni have included:
- Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, King of Bhutan[11]
- Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan[12]
- Haitham bin Tariq, Sultan of Oman[5]
- Enele Sopoaga, Prime Minister of Tuvalu[13]
- Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, former President of Fiji[14]
- Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala, Crown Prince of Tonga
- Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, Crown Prince of Brunei[6][15]
- Grigol Mgaloblishvili, former Prime Minister of Georgia[16]
- Sultan Muhammad V, former Yang di-Pertuan Agong (head of state of Malaysia)[17]
- Amina Mohamed, former Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya[18]
Directors[edit]
- 1969-1986: Ralph Feltham
- 1986-1987: Anthony Kirk-Greene
- 1987-1988: Philip McKearney
- 1988-1990: Anthony Kirk-Greene
- 1990-1995: Sir John Johnson
- 1995-1999: Sir Robin Fearn
- 1999-2003: Christopher Long
- 2003-2010: Alan Hunt
- 2003-2006: Rodney Hall (Academic Director)
- 2010-2015: Jeremy Cresswell
- 2015-2019: Kate Jones
- 2020: Vahid Nick Pay and Charles Boyle (interim directors)
- 2021-present: Yolanda Kemp Spies[19]
References[edit]
- ↑ Marques-Guedes, Armando (2008). "Raising Diplomats: political, genealogical, and administrative constraints on patterns of training for diplomacy". Diplomatische Akademie, Wien, Favorita Series: 61.
- ↑ Oxford, University of. "Oxford University Diplomatic Studies Programme". Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ "DiplomacyOxford Twitter, referring to King of Bhutan visiting his alma mater". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-08-27. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lawn, Ciara (2016-01-09). "The King of Bhutan studied the FSP". The Mirror. Retrieved 2021-08-27. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, graduated from the Foreign Service Programme in 1979". Arab News. 2020-01-11. Retrieved 2021-08-27. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Crown Prince Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, an alumnus of the programme".
- ↑ "Tropical African Service courses at Oxford and Cambridge". The National Archives, Kew. 1930. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Stockwell, Sarah (2018-08-30). The British End of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-58801-0. Search this book on
- ↑ Luscombe, Stephen. "The British Empire, Imperialism, Colonialism, Colonies". www.britishempire.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ "History of the Diplomatic Studies Programme" (PDF). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "RAOnline Bhutan: Politics - Chhoetse Penlop - Royal Highness Crown Prince Dasho Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck". www.raonline.ch. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ Burns, Jimmy (2009-02-23). "Diplomats to the core - how Oxford continues to 'inoculate the world with Balliol'. | Miscelleneous | | Author of La Roja | Papa Spy Jimmy Burns". Jimmy Burns. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ Turner, B. (2017-01-12). The Statesman's Yearbook 2011: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-58635-6. Search this book on
- ↑ "MINDEF - DPMM Crown Prince". www.mindef.gov.bn. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ "Grigol Mgaloblishvili's Biography". Civil.ge. 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ "St Cross College newsletter, p.22" (PDF). 2018. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "CS Amina Mohamed Tips Chevening Scholars". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ↑ "Yolanda Spies". Kellogg College. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
External Links[edit]
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