Courses for Arab diplomats at Clingendael Academy initially began as a direct response to the Arab Spring. Five years and nine successful courses later, the tenth edition of the Course for Diplomats from the Arab Region (CDAR) currently includes participants from many more countries and has seen a shift of thematic priorities to better match the training needs of diplomats from the region.

After the Arab Spring

Since the Arab spring, the MENA-region has been going through a period of (violent) social, economic, and political transition, leading to challenges ranging from youth unemployment, lack of political inclusivity to full-fledged civil wars (for more information: Arab Spring: negotiating in the shadow of the intifada). By sharing perspectives, knowledge and experiences as well as by working and training together, today’s diplomats can better face and overcome these challenges that currently affect their region as a whole.

More countries = more challenges

The Course for Diplomats from the Arab Region (CDAR) initially began as a response to the events of the Arab Spring and included participants from just five countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt and Jordan). Five years and nine training courses later, there is a doubling of invited diplomats from countries including Iraq, Yemen, Algeria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories. All these countries face their own unique challenges during this transitional period, and the Arab World has seemingly never before appeared more divided (for more information: The Economist Special Report: The Arab World May 14 2016).

More points of view = more possible solutions

The CDAR facilitates Arab diplomats to meet each other face to face and to share their experiences and points of view regarding the current developments in their region. This exchange allows for a deeper understanding as to the different challenges each country in the region is facing , and how these may be overcome together through cooperation.

Training modules

In addition to providing  a platform for exchange, the CDAR  is organised along training modules, tailored to the needs of the participants. In these modules emphasis is placed on:

• how the international system is currently ordered (in terms of security, economics, politics and justice);
• how regional cooperation works (or does not) in other places like the EU;
• and what role today’s diplomats can play.

All these modules are interlaced with skills training (negotiations, networking , intercultural-and crisis communications, and digital diplomacy) to prepare participants to face the above-mentioned challenges and themes in the region with the most appropriate diplomatic tools.

More information on diplomatic training?

Clingendael is proud to host the tenth edition of CDAR from 14 September - 12 October 2016. Candidates for the programme are selected by their respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs. If you would like to know more about Clingendael’s tailor made diplomatic programmes  or this specific course for the Arab world, be sure to contact:

Hans Wurzer or Sander Streefkerk, Training and Research Fellows, Clingendael Academy.