In the age of constant efforts to deepen the phenomenon of global disinformation, diplomacy requires constant evolution in order to effectively counteract false or manipulative narratives.
Researchers and practitioners discussed the challenges facing diplomacy in an era of all-present chaos of information during the conference “Diplomacy in the Shadow of War,” organized on the 10th of December at KUL’s Center for the Study of Diplomacy.
“The essence of Western diplomacy is conducting positive diplomacy. Our goal is to to build a relationship with a partner in a way, where they take on our point of view. Of course, this happens with varying results, because we play as much as our opponent allows. On the other hand the modus operandi of Russia and a widely understood East is different: they strive to take over and subjugate others. For them there are no partners. There are rivals” said Krzysztof Olendzki, former Polish ambassador to Tunisia and Slovenia, currently serving in the Department of Strategic Communication and Counteracting International Disinformation, emphasizing the differences between the diplomacy of the collective Western countries and Russia.
Participation in the conference of researchers dealing with the Central European region and the Middle East allowed for the presentation of examples of disinformation activities in those regions. Dr. Magdalena El Ghamari highlighted that the fight with misinformation in the Middle East is largely a belated action, which results in the current sympathy of Arabs towards Russia. Dr. Łukasz Lewkowicz noted, however, that in certain countries in the Central Europe, the principle of pan-Slavism is deeply rooted, visible not only in the attitude of local elites towards Russia, but also in the neutral or positive perception of the Russian state by the rest of society.
Once again we’d like to thank the experts for participation in the discussion. The conference was attended by:
▪️ Ambassador Krzysztof Olendzki (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
▪️ Dr. Agnieszka Łukasik-Turecka (KUL)
▪️ Dr. Magdalena El Ghamari (Collegium Civitas),
▪️ Dr. Karolina Wanda Olszowska (Jagiellonian University)
▪️ Dr. Łukasz Lewkowicz (UMCS)
The discussion was moderated by Dr.. Habil.. Beata Piskorska, professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, head of the Center for the Study of Diplomacy at the Catholic University of Lublin.