The Diplomat
“Diplomatic Dialogue in the Internet Age”
October 31, 2015
Emanuel Pastreich
I cringe every time I witness a group of experts from across Asia gather for an international meeting. They may be government ministers, or professors, or businessmen; the situation is the same. They shake hands awkwardly, exchange light pleasantries in broken English, and then quickly break off the conversation and scuttle away from each other.
Although the plane tickets and hotels required to bring these experts together are expensive, there is little, or no, serious dialogue between them – in spite of the remarkable amount of know-how that they have to share. Sadly, in most cases, they will leave the expensive events organized by government, or industry, the same way that they came: as mutual strangers. The gatherings over expensive meals will lead to no commitment for future cooperation, or even awareness of the wisdom and knowledge belonging to the others at the event.
If the representatives from across Asia who attend international summits and conferences could actually speak seriously with each other at any length, there would be an immense amount that they could learn from each other. For example, they might learn about how their peers in other countries are using innovative new administrative strategies that they could adopt. Or they might learn how new technologies used in manufacturing vastly improve productivity.
But that depth of exchange will never come from the brief introductions over wine that normally take place. Read more of this post