Can you briefly present your career path?

Following my studies, I worked as a human rights expert before joining the Swiss diplomatic service in 2001. After postings in Bern, Mexico, Oslo and Geneva, I joined the UN as the Political Advisor to the Director-General in Geneva in 2015. In 2019, I returned to the Swiss Foreign Ministry and led the Geneva Welcome Centre before being appointed as the Swiss Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan in summer 2023. Additionally, I am currently the Special Envoy for the 4th Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions.

To what extent is what you learned at the Graduate Institute useful for your career?

The Institute was crucial for acquiring the necessary tools and appetite for diving deeper into diplomacy. In particular, its multidisciplinary teaching approach has been key for better understanding the complex interlinkages and crosscutting challenges in a highly fragmented geopolitical context. In addition, the Institute’s geographic proximity and close exchange with international organisations provided a unique opportunity to get a taste of the rich and diverse work carried out every day in Geneva, serving people all over the planet.

What are the limits of traditional diplomacy at a time when multilateralism is in crisis? Do we need to change our practices?

Adjusting to new realities, technological changes and new means of communications has been a constant characteristic of diplomacy. Diplomacy has survived the inventions of the telegram, phone, emails, smart phones, video conferences – it will also survive the invention of future technologies because trust, which is key for diplomacy and cooperation, can only be built through face-to-face diplomacy and mutual respect. Diplomacy can however not function on its own in an ivory tower and is strongly impacted by the continuously changing surroundings. Increasingly, there is a need to reevaluate and rethink diplomatic strategies, including a wider range of stakeholders and approaches to effectively address current national and global challenges. More engagement with non-state actors with a focus on issue-based coalitions combined with more flexible and informal forms of diplomacy is a trend (partly) practiced by more and more countries.

Are new technologies changing diplomacy and how are they doing so?

Diplomacy is no longer limited to conflict resolution and security challenges. In a world dominated by transnational interactions and influences, deeply impacted by digital transformation in all walks of life, diplomacy has become a fluid and plural activity. Quickly acquiring expert knowledge on highly complex (technical) issues has become more and more of a need in diplomacy. New technologies can help acquire such knowledge, as well as make decision processes both easier and quicker. At the same time, the power of social media, the pressure to immediately react to new developments, the influence of fake news, cyber-criminality and other new developments all continue to challenge our societies and of course also diplomacy.

This article was published in Globe #35, the Graduate Institute Review.