DOHA: Doha Institute for Graduate Studies has launched the Executive Master of Diplomatic Studies and International Cooperation Programme for the 2020-2021 academic year, receiving the first batch of 13 diplomats from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs under an MoU with the Diplomatic Institute.
As part of the School of Public Administration and Development Economics (SPADE), the new programme aims to provide the opportunity to employees working in the diplomatic corps and international cooperation, official representations in regional and international organisations, official envoys and international mediators from Qatar, to integrate into the world of international and diplomatic relations.
This is in addition to providing them with the tools of written diplomatic work (international law and treaties) and unwritten international norms toward serving the national interest of Qatar in its bilateral and multilateral relations.
One of its kind
“The programme is one of its kind in Qatar and the Gulf, which is characterised by its academic and global partnerships that will contribute to providing Qatari diplomatic bodies and missions with a generation of Qatari diplomats who are fully conscious of their country’s future and aspirations,” Dr Hend Al Muftah, Vice-President of Administration and Finance, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
Al Muftah urged students to take advantage of the benefits the institute is offering them, whether at the level of relations and visits, or at the level of scientific and academic research, through cooperation and coordination with expert professors in the diplomatic research field.
SPADE Dean Dr Hamid Ali said the programme is based on a combination between a theoretical track that comprises three main areas – foreign policy, diplomacy, and international law.
The practical track aims to activate what is at the core of the theoretical course through mechanisms that move the learner from the horizon of reception to the space of self-learning and peer learning.
The programme also aims to identify the work of international organisations through field visits and networking with experts in diplomatic and policy-making, who will join the programme as visiting lecturers.