🌎 Welcome to The Gender Diplomat! With apologies for last week's hiatus due to the end-of-the-world feeling you get when you're overwhelmed with work. Besides, I'm still learning to say no to people and projects. Life is a never-ending lesson, isn't it?

I've been reflecting on how I can improve my toolkit as a passionate, modern and progressive internationalist, so here are the main unusual skills I've identified as essential for a bright future 🌞

🔮 Unusual skills any modern internationalist will need

It's easy to follow breaking news on social media and read history books, but can you debrief your line manager about future political and policy scenarios? Test your skills:

What is your perspective on the digitalisation of the justice sector 👩‍⚖️, the political race for outer space 🪐 or the looming climate security crisis 🔥? Imagine a world with water scarcity — how might this affect international relations? If you don't have at least a few quick thoughts to share, take this as a friendly reminder to open new brain tabs.

➡️ So, the ability to THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THE FUTURE and its implications in an ever-changing, globalised and unpredictable world is crucial. Developing "future literacy" skills involves scanning the horizon for emerging issues, analysing trends and participating in strategic foresight exercises to inform proactive policy formulation. This includes monitoring social movements, tech developments, economic shifts, climate trajectories, etc. Future literacy requires a mix of analytical, data gathering, critical thinking and active learning skills. Being “future literate” is the ultimate difference between a good analyst and a fantastic analyst. And we want to be fantastic analysts.

➡️ Then there's INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERTISE. Although I could consider myself an "expert" (i.e. I specialised in a narrow subfield in my master's degree and my work), I've been making an effort to become a generalist. Knowing a little about a lot of things allows me to better understand how the world works. Sometimes I care a lot about these extra issues, other times I don't care at all, but our world is becoming increasingly complex, and that requires solutions that draw on knowledge from several disciplines. So, never dismiss your knowledge. Even incorporating ideas from unexpected areas, such as anthropology, psychology or even art, is relevant and can offer valuable insights into war, conflicts or peacebuilding.

➡️ Plus, you have to DISCOVER CULTURE BEYOND LANGUAGE. In fact, cultural agility, sensitivity and communication encompass an understanding of non-verbal communication styles and cultural norms between groups, which can be decisive in international careers. This can involve familiarity with different body language cues, protocol rules, gift-giving etiquette or humour that doesn't translate directly. Diplomats are generally very good at this, and the only way to develop these skills is through networking and exposure. It is better to work together than apart, so learn to manage and impress all kinds of stakeholders.

➡️ This is where DESIGN THINKING kicks in, because your ability to approach problems creatively and come up with innovative solutions is essential. Design thinking is fundamentally human-centred and involves empathy for the end user (gather input and understand the needs of stakeholders), ideation, prototyping, and iteration in your IR work (go beyond traditional tools, use pilot programs and ideas, assess new trajectories, etc.). An internationalist who can think like a designer could develop more effective strategies for conflict resolution, development programs, or public diplomacy campaigns.

➡️ Finally, work on your EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE for effective leadership and growth. Internationalists must be adept at managing their own emotions and creating empathy with others (esp. difficult colleagues or stakeholders), promoting inclusive dialogue, building trusting relationships (esp. when bridges are easily burned) and sensitively navigating social dynamics — easier said than done, and life will test you even if you write "excellent interpersonal skills" on your CV and hope for the best. Some of the worst colleagues I've ever had had brilliant professional experience, but had no idea how to put their ego aside to achieve common goals and promote the greater good. So go and work on your emotions!

⚡ Growing in and out of your 9 to 5

JOBS

• Palestine/MENA Policy Advisor @ OXFAM EU Office

• Junior advocacy assistant @ VOICE EU

• Fellow in International Political Economy @ LSE

• Exec assistant to CEO @ Apolitical Foundation

• Traineeship @ EIP

• Consultant @ UN Women

• Digital officer @ Girls Not Brides

• ECHO partnership assistant @ PLAN International

• Senior program officer @ Swisspeace

• Human rights officer @ WHO

• Program specialist @ UN Women

• Head of network development @ CAN Europe

• Communications coordinator @ CAN Europe

• Program analyst @ USAID

• Hub manager @ Forum Oceano

GROWTH

• Why we should talk to strangers (The Economist)

• The Next Global Superpower Isn't Who You Think (TED)

• The Case for Doing Nothing (The New York Times)

EVENTS

• Festival de cinema “Censura fora de cena”

• Launch of the GeoEconomics Center’s report on Chinese retaliation

• Venezuela’s view of the July election and public opinion

• Cybersecurity in the EU institutions and critical digital infrastructures

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See you next week!👩🏻‍💻